Friends Story - Through OC's eyes
by IXypheryl
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers, game breaking, mild swearing, sexual innuendos, and anime references. A story about MapleStory's first spin-off, Friends Story and the things I find weird with through the first person view of my own character. Story based off MapleSEA's version of Friends Story. Includes additional things. Enjoy!
1. Prologue (FS Beginning)

One morning, I received a package without an address or name. Mir and I exchanged glances when I placed it on the tea table in the living room. 'What's that, Master?' the dragon asked curiously as it went closer to the package. It sniffed at the unknown item, then it looked at me again. 'From whom?'

I shrugged. 'Someone must've just popped it in the letterbox.'

'Let's open it, Master!' Mir's eyes were filled in excitement. I smiled, nodding at it as I sat on the chair across it. Carefully tearing the package, I found a box filled with Styrofoam chunks. Mir looked slightly disappointed. I started digging the contents of the box, and found a thin, black rectangular object. I placed it on the table.

Mir started sniffing on it. 'It has a weird scent,' it replied. 'Like metal.'

I frowned at the object. 'Some sort of prank, perhaps?'

It started vibrating. Both Mir and I flinched at the sound it made on the table. 'M-master, it's moving!' Mir cried in fear. 'Do something!'

'We don't even know if it's some sort of dangerous device from the Black Wings,' I replied, acting composed. 'It ought to stop soon.'

It did. I let out a sigh of relief way too early, for the object started vibrating again. Mir was fidgeting and kept on sending me glances to do something about it. Cautiously I looked at the item. There was a photo of an unknown man in odd clothing, the name written below it was "Prefect". Above the picture was written "On the phone". Is this object called a "phone"? It sure looked slender and smaller than those I've usually seen. A green and red button was above a house-like symbol on the item.

I assumed that the green button was to receive as the red one had an "X" symbol on it. Cautiously I poked on it, then put the slim object to my ear, acting it as a phone. Mir panicked when I lifted the object up and got into guard mode.

'H-hello?' I spoke to the object.

'Hello? Can you hear me?' the caller spoke.

'Yeah. What's going on? What's this thing?'

'What you're holding is called a smartphone. It doesn't exist in this world, but it's common from where I came from,' the person replied. I raised an eyebrow. If this so-called smartphone doesn't exist in Maple World, how did it ended up in my letterbox in a package?

'Alright,' I slurred, frowning to the item. I had a bad feeling about all this.

'Do you see my clothes, from the picture?' he asked again.

'Yeah.'

'They're called pieces of a school uniform. Students in my world wear uniform to their school.' I have heard of uniforms, but this is the first time I've heard students that had to wear the same pieces of clothing to school. How are they supposed to do combat in those? They looked easily torn, providing no armor to any monsters. Wouldn't that world be screwed? How did this guy managed to stay alive?

'Okay… your point being?' I went straight to the question.

He chuckled. 'Say, are you interested in exploring a new world?'

A new world? Heck yes! I glanced at Mir. It seemed calmer now, and frowning at my excitement of exploring. I remembered what seemed a long time ago that Mir asked me to go for an adventure. I'm sure both of us would be having fun.

'Of course!'

'Great! There's a scroll inside the box, take it and you'll be taken here. Please remember to bring the smartphone along, okay?' Prefect seemed like in a good mood. He then hung up on me. I placed the phone down on the tea table as Mir looked at me, waiting for answers.

'Mir, are you ready for an adventure?' I asked, unable to contain my excitement. It had been so long since I went to one. Mir brightened up and nodded. Then it started flying around the house in joy. Mir had forgotten how big it was and crashed into one of the ceiling lamps. 'Mir!' I yelled.

'Eek! I'm sorry!' Mir yelped, then flew into the kitchen in fear that I would come after it with my staff. I've decided to let this matter slide as an adventure is waiting. Sighing, I took the broom placed at the corner of the living room and swept the broken pieces of the shards. Then, I went to my wardrobe and changed into my battle suit. I wonder what sort of monsters would be in that new world. I hoped they are strong enough to my liking. I placed the phone into my endless depth bag, then dug into the box and found the mentioned scroll. I looked at Mir. It was grinning ear to ear like a fool. I was probably the same. I used the scroll in excitement as it warped me to the destination.

To find disappointment. I sighed when I reached a house in Henesys. A hole on the ceiling was fixed sloppily by nailing a few wooden board on it. The person in the picture, Prefect, looked at Mir in awe. He attempted to touch Mir's head, in which it responded with a snarl, then attempted to hide behind me. An oddly placed wardrobe was directly in front of the entrance, a portal opened inside it to an unknown area, probably the new "world". A blonde man about the same age as Prefect was there too, wearing a green coat with an old blue and yellow scarf around his neck.

'Great, you're here,' he said. 'My name is Elwin. Nice to meet you, DragonGod.' He then snickered at my name. I sighed. Many did the same.

'If it's hard to speak, go with Evan instead.' I glared at him. He immediately shut up.

Elwin then turned to Prefect. 'You should leave now. Don't wear out your welcome.'

Prefect seemed resistant. 'Gasp! You are the one that summoned me! You can't make me leave,' he scowled. He sounded stupid when he said "Gasp" at the beginning of the sentence. I frowned.

'How many times do I have to tell you that I don't intend this? And stop saying stupid things like "Gasp"!' Elwin snapped at him. I was glad that I wasn't the only one who was thinking the same thing.

'Everyone says that from where I came from,' Prefect replied, pouting.

'Oh God, why did this happen to me?' Elwin moaned. 'I swear I'll never use summoning magic again!' So he was the one that created the portal to the other world. I glanced at the wardrobe which was directly below the badly sealed roof. It probably fell down from the sky… what am I saying?

Mir poked my back with its head. 'I thought we're going for an adventure, Master,' it whispered. 'What's going on?'

I shook my head. I better find out what's happening. Elwin looked away from Prefect, crossing his arms while scowling. I had a sneaking suspicion that Elwin is a magician under Grendel the Really Old's teaching. If the words go out about this, he's probably done for. I headed towards Prefect who ran up the stairs. He was scowling at me at first, then it changed to surprise.

'Oh, you're the one that answered my call!' he smiled. 'Nice to meet you!'

'Nice to meet you too. Who are you?'

'Huh, me? I'm just an ordinary student from another world.'

'That doesn't sound ordinary at all…' I narrowed my eyes at him.

Elwin spoke from behind. 'That's not ordinary – you're from another world!' The three of us looked at him in surprise as he squeezed past Mir and I to enter the room where Prefect was. Prefect casted his eyes down to the floor for a moment, then looked at me.

'As you can see, my summoner is not happy with me. Do you want to know how I flew into this world?' I nodded at him. Elwin scowled at me. 'You can ask my summoner about it. He's the grumpy mage over there.' That was a waste of my time. I turned towards Elwin, hoping he would give me the answers to the various theories I made about this.

Elwin scratched the back of his head. 'Right. I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm magician Elwin. If you're a denizen of Maple World, then you should've heard my name at least once.'

I haven't really went out for a while since there weren't many who asked me out to hunt the seemingly endless copies of world bosses recently. 'Nope, never heard of you,' I replied. He seemed to be a little egoistic for someone who's unknown till now.

'What? You haven't heard of my name before? That's outrageous!' he scowled. I think the one who's outrageous is none other than the mage who thinks he's famous when he isn't. 'I'm next to none when it comes to barrier and teleportation magic. I'm also the best pupil of the great magician Grendel.' Well, I was right about him being under Grendel. After all, Grendel the Really Old is the best magician in Maple World. All magicians except the Cygnus Knights and that Japanese lady I met a while back (and claimed that she was from another era) that doesn't learn directly under him.

Then he looked away, acting melodramatic as he appeared to look somewhere further than the wall he was staring. 'Even monkeys fall from trees. A few days ago, I've made the biggest mistake of my life: I happened to tear a hole in between dimensions while practicing magic. As a result… Crash!' the sound effect he made had led to Mir being restless. Mir had sensitive ears, and his sudden shouting made it uneasy. I petted it in an attempt to calm it down. 'A gigantic wardrobe fell from the sky.' He pointed downstairs. So it really did fell down from the sky. I looked at the badly covered up roof again. What an odd incident. Falling wardrobes. I should be careful when I walked outside again.

'If Master Grendel finds out…' he shivered. He will be done for. 'I don't even want to think about it.' I think he should, because the word is bound to leave the area. 'He's not happy with me as it is because a few experiments that went wrong. I really need to cover this up like it never happened before.' Elwin then shifted to me, giving me the puppy eyes. I sighed. I knew that I need to pick up the mess he left behind… I doubted that he is able to cover this. He didn't even cover the roof properly, how is he going to cover that portal? By closing the doors?

'I don't care what it takes as long as he wouldn't find out!' he probably saw me giving him some judging and quickly uttered. 'The biggest problem is that guy, who came out from the wardrobe, is refusing to go back home! He says that he likes fantasy worlds like this. What fantasy worlds? I don't understand a word he's saying! Please, I beg you,' Elwin intensified his puppy looks. I flinched. 'Persuade him to go back where he belongs, please!'

I looked at Mir. This really isn't our mess to deal with.

 _But Master, we should help him! After all, we are supposed to help people in need, right?_ Mir replied me through telepathy. I guess Mir was right. I forced a nod at him. He brightened up a little.

'Please persuade the otherworldly student to return, DragonGod,' he muttered, then left the room. When he walked down the stairs, I heard him laughing. That asshole…

Prefect noticed me staying. 'Are you going to persuade me to go back? Nope, I like this place.' I bit my lower lip, thinking of the possible questions that might made him leave. How about his parents?

'Your parents must be worried about you,' I said to him. 'You should return before they start searching for you.'

'My parents don't care about me,' Prefect looked at the mirror sadly. 'They left me alone and took my younger brother to another country for his education. I told them many times that I couldn't get used to school, and they moved me to another school every time. Last night I was hiding inside the wardrobe, crying because I don't want to go to my new school today.'

I tried to keep a straight face. Why does this sound like some crappy story off a novel? Regardless I kept quiet as I have no idea about his backstory. Perhaps the world he was in was completely different from this world, thus he liked it very much.

'But you'll be forever a stranger in this world. Don't you have friends over there?' I asked again.

'I've changed school at least ten times because I couldn't get along with the kids. I'm used to being a stranger.' This guy has a very sad-like story.

'Well… how about the food here? You won't like it. Isn't it different from your world?' That was my last bet. I had a feeling that he would come out another answer that wouldn't make him leave. I don't have another question to make sure he would return to his original place. After all, he seemed like he would like to avoid everything in his world for now.

'I've tried it already,' Prefect looked at me with a weak smile. I think he was covering up his laugh at my poor attempt to shoo him away. 'Even the orange mushroom soup and the evil eye stew aren't so bad.'

Looks like there's nothing I could try to persuade him to leave. Dangerous monsters don't come to Victoria Island for no reason, so…

'I was told there are dragons and magic exist in this world,' his eyes sparkled as he looked at Mir. Mir hid its head behind me, using it to poke me, telling me to do something about him. Mir didn't like strangers no matter how many times it had met them. 'I've always wanted to live in a fantasy world like this. At least I want to look around before I leave.'

Before I could open my mouth to speak that the Maple World isn't as good as it seemed to him, Elwin spoke from behind again. 'At least your world is safe from the evil energy Black Mage spreads. To me your world looks more peaceful and entertaining.'

'Elwin, you should just stay here next time,' I sighed at him. Mir was uneasy about him popping in and out of the conversation.

'You're just saying that because you haven't lived there,' Prefect pouted at him.

Elwin sighed. 'Let's say your parents don't care about you. They will still be notified if you skipped school, right?'

Prefect sulked. He paused for a moment before replying, 'I want to stay here, at least for a while,' he gave me the puppy eyes. Why am I subjected to this torment?! 'I don't care if it's a few days. Is there any way you can make that happen, please?' He stared at me. I don't like where this is going, but at the same time I was curious. There weren't any monsters there though.

Elwin groaned. 'What have I gotten myself into? Then again I summoned you into this world…' he muttered to himself. A while later, a smile returned to his face. 'Wait, I've got an idea. Have you guys read the storybook, the Prince and the Pauper?' He looked cheerfully at the three of us.

 _Master, what's that storybook?_ Mir asked me through telepathy.

I think it was about two person with identical looks living each other's lives. Mir looked at me in awe.

 _Wow, you know about it?_

I've read about it before somewhere, a long time ago.

Prefect didn't seem to know about it. Elwin smiled at him. 'It's simple. You two can live each other's lives temporarily. Doesn't that sound interesting? This experience will benefit the both of you. I mean, when can you ever get to experience a life in another world?' Elwin gave us the hopeful look. As a person who went into the past while living as three different people, went to Pantheon and the Fox Point Village for research purposes, I have done that. Then again, my curiosity about the other world they mention had peaked, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

'Well, I don't mind. I don't think anyone would be visiting me any time soon,' I told Elwin. He cheered at my answer.

'Great! Then, DragonGod, you'll wear a uniform and go to his school in his stead!'

'DragonGod?' Prefect frowned at me.

'Just call me Evan, alright?' he don't know much of Maple World, so the name might sparked out as odd. 'So I'll be the otherworldly student, then?'

Elwin pulled me to a corner and started whispering to me. 'Look, I know we've just met, and we barely know each other, but I need your help to keep this under control. Just keep people in the other world distracted for a while, and I'll do the rest.'

'I have a feeling I can't trust you,' I whispered back. I don't know how bad he had screwed up if Grendel the Really Old isn't pleased with his mistakes. What if I got stuck in that world while I'm in there? Wouldn't I be screwed by then? It would be a bore if there weren't anything that I like to do over there.

Prefect seemed to have heard our conversation. 'Can you do that?' he pleaded. 'If you'll let me stay for a while, then I'll promise to go back. Thank you, DragonGod!'

Elwin was grinning. 'Well, you've heard him, DragonGod. What do you say?'

 _Master, let's go!_ Mir sounded excited.

'I don't mind.'

'All right! I like your attitude, DragonGod!' Elwin beamed, then pulled me down the stairs. Mir followed behind as it didn't want to stay near Prefect too long. He brought me to the front of a screen. 'Here, watch this for a while. It might let you know a little more about the other world.'

'How do you –' I wanted to ask, but he shushed me and played a video on the screen. It was hand drawn and well made, with many characters I know inside the video. The Cygnus Chief Knights, their strategist and Ereve's Empress, as well as the Black Mage's leaders and subordinates were there. What is going on? When the video ended, I turned at Elwin. 'Why are _they_ there?!' I asked. Wouldn't it be dangerous if the Black Mage's members are over there? Why weren't the Cygnus Chief Knights and members doing anything about it?

'Our world is different than theirs, so it should be nothing,' Elwin looked away from my gaze. He sounded doubtful. I continued staring at him. He couldn't stand the gaze any longer, so he returned it and replied, 'Look, that's why I requested you to go! It couldn't be anyone else, okay? You're quite high levelled and skilled, so…'

I see how this is going. I sighed, and nodded at the situation.


	2. Chapter 1 (FS Prologue)

Due to being new to the "smartphone" object, Prefect took three hours to explain it to me. At the end he sighed and reduced the number of "applications" to explain, and only took the main ones that I might use. Afterwards, I was ready to go and explore the place he dreaded as hell.

Elwin had checked on the both of us every hour, waiting for the time where I am ready to depart. He had previously told me that he had to stay to maintain the interdimensional passageway, perhaps a decision made when I had told him that I don't trust him at all. Mir was slightly open to the both of them in the short moment, which was something I was glad about. The three of us went downstairs and Elwin, who was guarding the entrance of the house with a nervous look, noticed us.

'Oh great, are you ready to go? Remember, you need to act like _that_ stubborn otherworldly student,' he said, glancing at Prefect. Looks like the rivalry won't dissolve any time soon.

'I have a doubt before I leave,' I confessed. Elwin scowled at me, perhaps thinking that I was doubting him. Before he could speak, I said, 'Prefect said that dragons doesn't exist in his world, right?' Prefect nodded at my statement. 'How about Mir? Wouldn't it spark out as odd over there?'

Elwin let out a sigh of relief. He really was thinking that I doubted his skills after all this time. 'Right… I forgot you're an Evan. I even wanted to tell you to try and refrain using your magic…' Elwin looked at Mir as he pursed his lips.

'Wait, you didn't notice I'm an Evan? After so long?' I was baffled. Forget about telling my class, surely anyone would notice a huge dragon following me, right? Wouldn't that be obvious enough?

He cleared his throat. 'Well, can't you let the dragon stay?'

'No, I'll follow where Master goes,' Mir replied.

Prefect became excited. 'Gasp! Oh my god, it spoke! The dragon, it spoke!'

Elwin ignored the otherworldly student and scratched the back of his head. 'That's going to be a problem. Let me search around for an invisible potion…' Then he left us alone, searching every nook and cranny in the house. He started off by searching the bottom of the couch seat of his living room. I think this will take a long, long time.

Prefect was curious, so while Elwin was busy flipping his house upside down for an invisible potion that may be invisible in the house, he confronted me with a hail of questions. 'Say, what's type of dragon do you have?' he asked. 'Can it breathe fire? Can you ride on it? Oh, can you fly on it too?! Is it true that they are very intelligent creatures? Does it act like a cat? Can I –'

'Whoa, whoa, easy there with the questions,' I cut him off. Mir snarled at him. Prefect took two steps back, but he seemed very interested with Mir despite the rough treatment. I think it would be a bad idea if Mir went to the world with me. Everyone would be infatuated with it, and it will have a bad time there. 'One question at a time, please.'

'Right. Sorry,' he directed the apology to Mir. 'So, what type of dragon is it?'

'It's an Onyx dragon. Their race had been extinct from the Black Mage's actions in the past.'

'It's not extinct, DragonGod. With so many Evans out there, their race is rather well populated than you think,' Elwin replied from the kitchen. 'These dragons are almost everywhere!'

'They can't reproduce, so they are considered as endangered species,' I told him. 'Plus, most of the Evans are staying at home doing nothing. It's not everywhere like it was before.'

'Pah, that doesn't matter, right? They can live up to thousands of years without reproducing! They're considered as least concerned species in my opinion,' Elwin entered the living room, holding a vial. 'Here, the invisible potion. I don't know how long it would last as it's been a while now, but it might help you.'

I took the vial from him. The liquid inside looked like normal water. 'You guys have been talking about Black Mage for a while now,' Prefect said. I looked up from the vial to him. 'Who's he?'

'A bad guy who threatened the Maple World's peace,' Elwin briefly replied. He then looked at me. 'Go on, use that potion,' he told me. I looked at Mir apologetically, then poured the invisible potion onto it. Mir stayed still throughout the process. Prefect was bewildered of my actions.

Nothing happened in the first few seconds. 'Did it not work?' Elwin doubted the potion he gave me. Then, Mir slowly faded to the background. It looked at itself in surprise.

 _Master, I'm disappearing!_

Looks like the effect of the potion had worked. Prefect stared at the dragon for a while until it turned into nothingness. 'Wow…' Prefect then looked around when Mir was completely gone.

 _Master? Have I completely hidden away from your eyes?_

It really looked gone. But I knew Mir was around. We were bounded in soul. If it were to be completely gone, I would know. But Mir was still in the room. I closed my eyes and looked with my heart of Mir's whereabouts. Its presence was located behind me. When I opened them, Elwin and Prefect looked at me curiously. 'So, where's the dragon?' Elwin asked.

I smiled and turned to the dragon behind me. My hand touched its head even though I can't see it. 'Mir's right here,' I told them while stroking Mir's head. It was happy that I found it.

'Great! You can now go, right? Remember, don't use your magic when you're over there!' Elwin warned me again.

'How about my clothes and weapons?' I asked. 'Wouldn't it strike them as weird?'

'Don't worry about the clothes. I'll guide you there when you get to my world,' Prefect grinned. 'About your weapon though…' He looked concerned at my staff. I doubted it could disguise as a cane, right?

The self-praising mage pulled out a red paper umbrella from his back. 'Ta-da!' he said, showing it to me. 'You can disguise your staff with this!'

I laughed. 'Really? I'll be holding an umbrella wherever I go?' It looks ridiculous enough with such a big thing. Prefect shook his head, disappointed at the item he gave me. I don't think I had any choice, so I took the item from his hand, then fused it with my staff to change its appearance. I will miss your beautiful looks, Elemental Staff 6. Its glowing pink appearance was replaced by a red paper umbrella that looked suitable for performance. I sighed at its new look. It isn't badass enough.

'Great, can you go now?' Elwin sounded desperate. It was the fifth time he's been asking me that. I nodded, not wanting to make him wait any longer. Let's go, Mir. I stepped into the wardrobe and walked through the short passageway. In an instant I've reached the new world. 'We'll be in touch with the phone, alright?' Elwin called from the other side. I nodded at him. I felt Mir's presence behind me. I took a deep breath, then opened the door to the new world.

It looked very different from Maple World, like a modernized place, but not as advance as New Leaf City (before it was mostly razed to the ground). I looked around. This is a new world. The landscape of this place looked completely different from where I belonged. While looking around, I felt the smartphone in my pocket vibrating.

Although invisible, Mir started talking. 'Who's calling?' it asked.

Fortunately there weren't anyone around. 'Mir,' I whispered. 'I think you shouldn't talk when you're here, especially when you're invisible. People may think that there's some sort of spirit around.'

 _Sorry, Master._

It's okay. I picked up the phone. It was from Prefect. I answered his call.

'How do you like the scenery in my city? That's where you'll stay, DragonGod. Please save my number, I'll call you often.'

'It looks… different. Didn't you saved your own when you were teaching me how to use the item?' I asked back.

'Looks like I forgot,' he chuckled nervously. I sighed. 'By the way, thank you for agreeing with me. About your clothes, they're begging for unwanted attention. You'll need a uniform. Why don't you go to the uniform store on the side of the overpass?'

'Overpass? You mean that bridge?'

'Yes. It's the only clothing store there, so you'll see it.'

'Alright.'

'Visit the uniform store by the school, and say that you're a transfer student. You'll be able to get a uniform that way,' Prefect said, then he hung up the phone. I looked at the screen and placed the smartphone back to my pockets. Looks like the school aren't too far away from where I came out. I followed his orders and went to the so-called uniform store. It was easy to locate, as he had told me. The store name was "Shiny Club" with a shirt and tie symbol in between the two words.

Upon entering I was greeted by dozens of school uniform, all slightly different from each other for both genders, in racks and mannequins. A huge sewing machine was sewing automatically in the middle of the room. I proceeded my way into the store when Mir let out a soft groan at the entrance. Looks like it could barely squeeze in.

 _Don't worry Master, I can… do this!_

Don't force yourself if you can't. I don't want to deal with a broken door at my first visit in this new world. Mir wasn't pleased with my response, but it managed to get into the store with small scratches at the doorframe. I examined the matter. It looked subtle enough, it ought to be missed somehow. Behind the big sewing machine stood Big Headward's twin brother, Big Headger, holding a pair of scissors on one hand and another a measuring tape.

'Gosh, I'm so busy! I need my beauty sleep or my face gets puffier than usual, and I don't want that!' he muttered alone in front of a piece of fabric. He didn't seem to notice me. I think he wouldn't look any difference if he had sleep or not.

'Hey, Big Headger –' I slapped my mouth. The name had slipped out of my tongue. Big Headger looked at me, frowning.

'Uh, do I know you? Why are you being friendly to me? I've never seen you before,' Big Headger looked at me before replying. I glanced around the store. Luckily, he didn't question me of knowing his name as Maple system had his name written above his head.

'R-right. Sorry, sir,' I replied sheepishly. 'I'm a transfer student, and I need a uniform, sir.'

'A transfer student? All right, but…' he started examining me from head to toe. He didn't seemed too pleased with my battle armor, for he started shrieking. 'Oh my! You're a fashion disaster!' he cried. 'If you want to do cosplay, do it right. Right now, you're just a disgrace to your school!'

I was offended by his comment. What was wrong with the Dragon Tail Mage robe? It looked nice enough, plus its fur could resist cold. I bit my lower lip and swallowed the words I would like to tell him and forced a chuckle. I do wonder what does he meant by "cosplay". 'I'm busy, so make it short. What do you want from me?' he asked again. I guess I could ask about the new school I would be attending.

I raked through my brain thinking about the school's name. 'What's Shinsoo International School?' I asked, suppressing my laugh about the name that was taken from a giant bird.

'You're a transfer student, how could you not know about your new school?' Big Headger clicked his tongue in disappointment at my lack of knowledge. Then he started explaining patiently. 'Shinsoo International School is an international school under Shinsoo Group Foundation. Call it Shinsoo School in short, it serves the wealthiest and most privileged students in the country Seoul. I can't believe you know nothing about your new school.' He sighed once more.

So the country's name was Seoul. It sure sounds unique. From his words, I assumed that everyone in the school must be rich. Prefect sure didn't look like one rich kid.

'You must be a transfer student, not knowing such basic information,' he shook his head disappointedly. He's been saying that for a long time, and now his brain finally accepted that information? I nodded quietly at him. 'I'm sorry, but I'm too busy to make you a new school uniform…' I was disappointed when he said that. How am I supposed to go to school then, if I don't have one? His eyes scanned around the store, then spoke after a brief pause, 'Oh wait, I may have something for you.'

He dropped the items on his hands onto the table and walked towards one corner of the store. 'Let me dust it first,' he muttered and proceeded to shake the dust off the object. He sneezed several times trying to remove the dust on it. I don't know if I'd like to wear something that has been forgotten for so long, but I don't suppose I have a choice. 'I feel generous, so I'll give you a free uniform skin. If you want something nicer, then bring me some Needles.'

He was feeling "generous". I coughed as he brought the black, plain uniform in front of me. 'What do you mean by Needles?' I asked innocently.

'You will find it when you're studying in Shinsoo School. It should be around, but you'll need to spend some time finding it,' Big Headger smiled. 'In case you are wondering what a uniform skin is, it's an invention I made that changes appearance of overalls to that of a uniform.' He lifted his head in pride. 'Amazing, huh? That skin can be worn on any overall, even over that strange piece of clothing.' He jeered about my Dragon Tail Mage Robe. I swallowed my pride and forced a smile. 'Why don't you try it out now?'

I supposed it's like a fusion anvil. I was surprised to know that there are such things in this world as well. I nodded at him and used it on my Dragon Tail Mage Robe. That's another thing that I will miss its appearance as. My other items such as the hat, gloves and most accessories were covered up by the Transparent items that was brought recently from Cash Shop (oh, my poor cash) by the persuasion of both Prefect and Elwin who judged me.

'Did you try it on? Don't forget, you can make a uniform from combining uniform skin with your overall!' Big Headger reminded me again. I nodded at him. It appears that my stats remained the same when I checked them. I supposed my staff didn't completely disappear, then. 'That uniform should do now. I'm too busy to do anything else for you,' Big Headger shifted his attention to the piece of fabric on the table. 'All the sewing machines in my shop are running to make uniforms for one person.'

He only had one, from where I could see, and it's a gigantic one. 'Who's that person, anyway?' From Big Headger's words, the mentioned person sounded important. Probably someone who owns the school?

'Huh, who's that person? Don't you really know? There's only one person who can afford the most luxurious uniforms money can buy. I don't want to repeat myself. Leave.' Big Headger left those cold words and proceeded to work out on the piece of fabric. I had a funny feeling that it was none other than Cygnus, judging from the video Elwin had shown me. She is, after all, an Empress, and to have Shinsoo as a name for the school and the foundation, it would be no other person other than Shinsoo's chosen one. I shrugged at his cold words and left. This time, I let the door open wide for a while for Mir to leave safely.

 _Thank you Master. I think I scratched the doorframe again…_ Mir sounded afraid. I looked at the doorframe. It still looked subtle. I shrugged.

Elwin called me right after I left the store. I picked it up. 'Wow, you're like a Seoul citizen now: who knew you'd get used to smartphones so quickly!' he started out with a praise. I chuckled. Those three hours of practice had definitely paid off now.

'What's the purpose of the call?' I asked. I don't think Elwin needed to get a smartphone. I guess he was curious of the new world after all, but couldn't go as he had to maintain the interdimensional passageway.

'Ah. I asked around for the school that you're going to, and what I've found out is rather ridiculous,' he replied. He had snooped on the school before I managed to get a glimpsed of it? I looked at the school beside the uniform store in shocked. 'Listen to this. The Shinsoo Private International School is a new school built by a multinational corporation named Shinsoo Group.'

'I know that already.' Big Headger had explained that to me.

'This is the big news: the owner of the group leveled the old building to the ground and built it new for his only daughter. He's that rich.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'That is… pretty interesting.' It felt like my theory was taking a step closer to the truth.

'Anyway, no matter how unique the school is, no one there will stand out as much as you do. Try not to stick out, all right? Now that you have your uniform, you should enter the school,' Elwin gave me another warning. I felt like he's starting to remind me of my mom.

'You just contradicted your statement, Elwin. Well, I'll try.'

'Are you having a hard time navigating in the new world? The school is the most conspicuous building in the area,' he said. Well, in fact, it's just right beside the uniform store! Pretty handy, isn't it? Mir giggled at my sarcastic thoughts. Elwin briefly told me the buildings available in the area and hung up. There weren't many to explore it seemed. I walked into the school building as told. I wonder what role the Cygnus Chief Knights and their strategist have in regarding to the school.

A car parked in front of the school right beside a tree. There were three men standing around the car, two looked like Agent O that I had met a long time ago, and one had a big mustache with pompadour hair. Cygnus was in front of them, sniffing. At least I think it was Cygnus, she looked similar, but less empress-like.

'Chauffeur, what should I do? My handkerchief blew away in the wind,' I heard Cygnus muttering to the pompadour hair man.

Chauffeur didn't seem worried about the handkerchief. 'Worry not, miss. It was only two million mesos. We can get you a new one,' he replied bluntly. To my surprise, they used mesos as a currency here too! I wouldn't need to worry about having the wrong currency to buy things here later on. But that handkerchief though… What kind of fabric did it use? Dragon skin?

'But father told me not to splurge money,' she looked upset. I wondered if I should help her out. I walked up to her to open a conversation, but she had beaten me to it. She looked at me in surprise, her mouth muttered, '…You?'

'Sorry?' I cocked my head at her. I was supposed to act as if I don't know anyone at all over here, right?

'Who is it? Is it your friend, Miss Cygnus?' Chauffeur asked as he examined my appearance. He started glaring at me a moment later, probably disliking the fact that I was close to Cygnus (so I was right!) when he haven't met me before.

'No, I haven't seen him before…' Cygnus shifted her gaze to me. She gave me an impeccable smile. 'Are you a transfer student?' I nodded. She looked quite different, but her personality and Empress Cygnus were quite similar. I couldn't help but stare, pondering if it really was Empress Cygnus in disguise. She started frowning. 'Why are you staring at me?' she asked.

Oops, I was caught. I quickly thought of a reason to disguise my staring. 'Oh… I'm sorry, you're so beautiful, I couldn't help but stare,' I let out a nervous chuckle. Mir laughed at my response, fortunately it managed to suppress it and it sounded almost like the wind. What's with that cheesy response I just blurted out? Has Phantom brushed it off me while I was around him?

Cygnus blushed, then looked at the ground, embarrassed. 'I see,' she muttered timidly. 'I'm sorry, I don't know how to respond to it.'

Seeing her embarrassed makes me feel flushed as well. Chauffeur ruined the embarrassing moment with a snort. I turned towards him. 'That's just one of the tricks commoners used to get close to their betters.' He glared at me, then his expression turned soft as he looked at Cygnus. 'Don't worry about your handkerchief, and you should enter the school now, Miss Cygnus.'

'But I love that handkerchief…' she lifted her head to protest, then looked up to the tree sadly, as if she didn't want to part with it. I noticed a white handkerchief with laces stuck in between the branches of the tree. It didn't look too high to reach.

'That's not too high…' I murmured to myself, then started climbing the tree after placing the umbrella on the ground.

'Oh, what are you doing?' Cygnus called out to me as I started to climb it. I ignored her and took my skills to the test without using teleport. The branches where the handkerchief was stuck on was sturdy, and I managed to get the handkerchief without any problem. I dropped down from the tree with Cygnus's handkerchief and handed it to her with a smile.

She took the item, then examined me. 'Are you not hurt? You make it look easy,' she said. 'I'm impressed. You moved so smoothly that you looked almost like you didn't belong in this world.'

 _Oh no, Seoul's Cygnus notice it!_ Mir was alarmed by her statement.

'Ha ha, really?' I laughed it off. 'I used to climb trees when I was younger to help my parents to get fruits, maybe it had been a habit.'

Cygnus looked surprised. 'Really? People climb trees to get fruits?' Looks like she didn't know. I just smiled at her. She flustered. 'Um, how much do I owe you?' she asked, taking out a rectangular book from her bag.

'Huh?' Did she want to pay me for that? I don't need it. 'It's okay, really.'

'What do you mean?' she frowned. 'I was taught that I must pay someone when they do me a favor.' Well, did she took the sentence too literally? I almost felt pitiful to her if her world only revolves with money. It must have shown on my face, as she asked, 'Um, did I upset you in any way?'

'Ah, no. I didn't do this for money, Miss Cygnus.'

Cygnus was bewildered by my response. 'Are you sure you don't want the money?' she asked again. I shook my head. I have enough money as it is, and I don't have anywhere to spend them. She looked at her wristwatch on her right hand, and was alarmed. 'Oh no, I'm late,' she looked nervous. 'Could you keep my phone number? I want to repay you later.'

Well, if it wasn't in the form of mesos… 'Sure.'

We exchanged phone numbers under the stares of Chauffeur and two bodyguards Agent O. She smiled at me and thanked me for my efforts, then excused herself as she ran into the school building with a smile on her face. I chuckled. Cygnus in this world doesn't seem too much of a difference from Empress Cygnus. What I fear would be if the Black Mage's Commanders and subordinates are the same, too.


	3. Chapter 2 (FS Prologue)

I went towards the grass to pick up my staff (umbrella) when Chauffeur called out to me. 'Hey peasant,' he said rudely. I turned around and found him crossing his arms, scowling at me. 'What are you? I must admit you're more athletic than anyone I know, but I don't want you to talk to Miss Cygnus anymore.'

Is this the treatment others get from getting involved with a rich person? Sure didn't work in Maple World. 'Why not?' I asked curiously.

He snorted at my question. 'I know your ilk. The latest popular trick I've heard people like you use is to slap the rich people on the face just to be the first ones to do that.' I was amused of the answer. He must've thought I'm a beggar. 'You can only get away with mischief like that in TV shows, so you'd better not try anything stupid.' This world's TV sounded interesting to have something like that. The TV in Maple World are available in most towns, and they usually promotes alertness while out of towns and cash shop items.

'You should get in if you don't want to be late. The class bell already rang,' Chauffeur let one final snort at me and entered the car. The two Agent Os followed suit, and they drove away, leaving dusts as I stood alone at the school grounds. I wonder what he meant by "my ilk". Surely no one else other than me had went through this interdimensional portal to take over an otherworldly student, right?

Resisting to use teleport to move, I walked towards the building. As usual I let the door open for Mir to enter. They were wide enough to not be scarred by Mir's wings. Prefect had told me to enter the 1st grade classroom in his stead while he was teaching me how to use the smartphone. It was located on the first floor. The first room I saw had a sign on the door labelled "1-1". It was most likely it as I don't see any other rooms. Mir wanted to enter as well, but it looked too small for it to squeeze in. I supposed Mir had to stay outside. It seemed hesitant to leave me walking in alone. I stroked its head one last time, then entered the room.

The tables and chairs available in the room could be counted with my hands. Although the school was big, the students in the school was lesser than I expected. Chief Stan stood behind a wooden pedestal with a book opened on it, his hands behind him with his usual grim look on his face. Looks like Chief Stan would be my teacher in this school.

I looked around the classroom. There were many unfamiliar faces, but I spotted Francis sitting at the back of the classroom, a navy hood over his face. Another student who stood out in the room was a large stature man with a pompadour, dark skin and thick lips. Chief Stan called me over and I stood by the pedestal as he cleared his throat.

'Today we have a new transfer student joining us. Everyone, welcome our new student,' Chief Stan said with a solemn tone. The two students who sat closest to the front smiled at me.

'Hello!'

'Nice to meet you!'

I should introduce myself to prevent looking suspicious.

Another asked, 'What's your name?'

Without thinking I blurted out, 'Oh, my name is DragonGod. Nice to meet you too.'

In that instant I silently cursed myself for saying that. Everyone in the classroom, including Chief Stan, frowned at me, as if I was an alien with such an odd name. I heard a few people murmured, "Do you think that's his real name?" and "I'm sure it's a nickname". Think! I need to say out a name where I would stand out least. The first thing I thought of was my class. 'Oh, no, no… My name is Evan.' I laughed nervously. Most of the students' expression soften up, and Francis looked amused.

I sighed in relief when they didn't seemed to judge me. I wondered what would happen if there were other Maplers who were sent here instead. I remember having a guild mate of mine that had the name of "callmegod" and "paytowin". There were worse names, like some robots with names built out of random letters numbers, or containing bad words like FyUoCuK. Those are even odder names to speak out other than "DragonGod".

Chief Stan cleared his throat. 'What are you whispering? If you have any questions, ask him!'

One asked, 'Um, what's your hobby?'

My hobby? It's rather obvious. 'My hobby is reading books.'

Some of them gave me some judging look. Is reading books a sin? I heard one of them mouthed, "What a nerd". Oh well. I shrugged. Chief Stan cleared his throat again. 'Everyone is interested in different things. Treat your new friend nicely. Dismissed!' Then he left the classroom with me standing oddly at the front of everyone else. A female student who sat in front showed to me an empty seat in front of Francis. I thanked her and proceeded to my seat.

The next teacher came in. I almost choked on my saliva as it was none other than Arkarium. A male student sitting beside me told me that he was a biology teacher in this school. Him? A biology teacher? I hoped he wouldn't create some sort of weird living creature from another dimension into the room. I had a half-hearted concentration during his teaching, fearing the worst, and the class seemed to fly by in a haze. It was time for recess after his class, and the students told me that it was an hour break.

I stretched myself when the class was over. I should make some friends in this new world to get used to these new things like sitting for hours in the classroom learning. I looked around the class. The sole person I recognize was Francis, so I supposed I should go and talk to him, as I had helped him and his puppet before in the past (even though he was a bad guy). I wonder if he is as timid as he was in the Maple World. When I approached him, I heard his mutter under his breath, 'Kukukuku… you're just a human…' I frowned at him. Is he alright?

Francis swiftly noticed me standing beside his table and looked at me. 'Transfer student, do you have anything to say to me?' he asked softly.

Let's give it a shot. 'I want to be friends with you.'

He was frowning, as if no one had said such words to him, then it swiftly changed into a smile. 'Really? Do you want to be friends with me?' he giggled cheerfully as he pulled out his smartphone from his pocket. 'Nice to meet you, Evan. Name's Francis. I'll give you my phone number.'

So it seemed like everyone I was familiar with will have the same name, but slightly different personality and behavior, probably due to a different surrounding. I beamed at him and took out mine, and we both exchanged phone numbers. This went well so far.

'By the way, you're into MMORPG, aren't you?' he asked. I frowned. What's this "MMORPG" is he speaking? 'I knew it when you said your name "DragonGod". It's your IGN, right? I'm into collecting figures. Otakus flock together, you know. Nice to meet you, my friend.' Now that's another new word. Maybe through Francis I could understand the new world a little more from a different standpoint.

'Me too. What's an "Otaku"?' I asked, hoping he would tell me more.

'Come on, you don't need to pretend when you're with me,' he spoke in codes, smiling as if he knew we were birds of a feather. I guess I could play along for now. 'By the way, you know about the earthquake that happened a few days ago, right?' he started talking as if we were friends for a long time. When I blinked at him, he continued, 'Dude that was crazy! This is a secret, but I took pictures of those dark things that fell from the sky like rain.'

'Hmm?' I pondered as he searched for the picture in his phone and showed it to me. It sure looked bizarre. 'This…?' I murmured. It was a picture of the sun, with shadow-like small meteors falling down from the sky.

'Heh heh, crazy, isn't it?' he chuckled. 'Nobody took the earthquake seriously, but I think it's a prelude to something big, like an invasion of extraterrestrial force.' He started giggling. I couldn't help but think that his suspicions may be right. 'How'd you like to investigate this mystery with me?' he asked.

'Sure. Hey, Francis, can I have that picture?' I asked. It looked suspicious, and perhaps from asking Elwin, we could determine what the cause of this was.

'Sure!' he accepted without a second thought. 'Turn on your Bluetooth.'

'My… what?' I frowned at him.

'Bluetooth. Oh, you don't know about it? Come, I'll show you.' He snatched away the phone from my hand and showed me how to turn Bluetooth on, and he sent the picture into my phone by placing both of our phones next to each other. I looked at the picture that magically appeared in my phone in awe when it had completed. Is this some sort of magic they have in this world? This is awesome!

As I was busy admiring the picture magically appearing on my phone, someone called out to Francis with a harsh tone. Francis sounded startled by the voice, so I stopped looking at the picture and looked at the person who called him. It was the other person that stood out in the class, standing by the door. I placed the phone into my pants pocket.

'Be quiet. You're disturbing me,' the student said. It was then I noticed a plaster on his left cheek, his left hand in his pants pocket. If he tried to sound intimidating, it didn't work for me, but it sure seemed to affect Francis.

'B-but it's recess…' Francis muttered timidly. Looks like he haven't changed at all.

'What? I can't hear you,' the student pretended to not hear him and raised his voice. Francis flinched. 'What are you complaining about? Are you trying to make me angry?' he scowled at Francis. The timid guy shook his head and said nothing. From the tag floating on his head, his name was "Bully". Isn't that an odder name? Bully turned towards me. Looking down at me, he said, 'And transfer student, come over here.'

I looked at the frightened Francis, then walked over towards him with my umbrella. He examined me, and then said, 'You looked like you know how to fight. Are you a black belt or some sort?' I raised an eyebrow. Black belt of what? Mu Lung Dojo? I had once achieved that, but I probably had buried it in the pile of unused items back at home. He started giggling. I found it odd. 'Well, I don't care who you are before this school. I find it interesting that you and I came to school at the same time.'

Did he? Maybe he was introduced earlier before my arrival because I came late, and Chief Stan was glaring at me for doing so. 'Oh really?' I replied.

He paused for a while, then he patted my shoulder. 'All right, I've decided. I'll make you my right-hand man.'

'Sorry?' I thought he was trying to intimidate me. What's with the sudden change of heart?

'If you don't want any trouble in school, then you'd better be on my good side because I'm going to conquer this school. So don't talk to dorky doll Otakus like him,' he pointed at Francis. 'Got it?'

Conquer this school? I don't see a point of doing so. He seemed to try to recruit me to his side, but I'm not interested to see what he sees from conquering this school. Plus, he just insulted Francis. I knew from the beginning that Francis wouldn't do anything to stand on his two legs, so I probably should help him for a bit again, as a fellow friend in this world. 'It's not nice to harass your schoolmates, Bully.'

He was angered by the statement. 'What did you just say?' he bellowed. I staggered backwards, for my ears were hurt from it. He took it as a coward's move and snickered. 'You don't listen, do you? Follow me to the backyard!'

'But why the backyard?' I asked, but he had already stormed out of the classroom, leaving the question hanging on the air, with no answer to it. Francis quickly walked towards me with a worried look after he had left.

'Aww, this is bad! I'm so sorry, Evan, it's my fault – I shouldn't have been too friendly with you,' he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

'Do you know what he wants me in the backyard?' I asked. Can't he settle the grudge here and now before (if he have any)?

'He's marked you, like he has to me. He's been harassing me since the first day of school,' Francis looked around, restless as he tried to think of a method to get me out of this mess. But I don't think it was a mess. And, Bully had lied to me that we both had transferred here at the same time. He clearly came earlier than I did, from Francis's statement.

'Basically he wants to duke it out with me in the backyard,' I replied casually as I let the umbrella lean on my shoulders. What a pain… It's my first day, and I've already gotten some unwanted attention.

'Yes. And he's a transfer student too, like you. Rumor has it that he's been a notorious bully since elementary school,' he briefed me about the opponent I was going against now. 'I'm used to getting beaten, so I can take three punches from him.' When Francis stated that as if it was nothing, I winced. How could he withstand it without telling others to help him out? I felt sorry for him again. Then he added, 'I'm not sure wimps like you can survive the slightest brush with his fist.'

'That's not nice,' I told him. I've been in fights for as long as I lived! But I couldn't tell him that I did it with magic, right? But I'm not supposed to use magic in this world. Maybe I could at least whack him with my umbrella-staff?

I must've accidentally spoke out my thoughts, for Francis asked with a frown, 'Uh, what did you say?'

'Nothing,' I played it cool. 'I'll be back.'

He became worried again. 'Are you sure? To get to the backyard, you need to exit through the front gate and go to the right around the school. Just say you're sorry, okay? Maybe he'll show you some mercy.'

I smiled. 'Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it.'

He shook his head. 'If he tries to attack you, just say sorry, okay? I'm really sorry for putting you through this.'

I waved at him and left the classroom. Mir was alerted of my leaving.

 _Oh Master, you're finally out! How was the class? Are they interesting?_ Mir asked after I took two steps out of the class.

It was rather interesting, but I was concerned about Arkarium being my biology teacher. I shuddered on the thought when I worked with other Maplers to defeat his clones. His clones were one of my dislikes. He heals too many times, often sending you to another dimension, cracking vision, and most of the time summoning your tombstones down from the Heavens. I never quite liked fighting against his clones.

 _Where are you going?_ Mir asked as I headed out of the school building. I'm going to meet someone at the back of this school. He wants to have a fistfight with me at a hidden stage.

 _But Master, you'll lose! You didn't add anything into your STR stat! Elwin had told us that we cannot use our magic unless deemed necessary, right?_ Mir followed after me, its wings made some noise which made some of the students looking around for the source. It should be okay. Some of the items I wore added a few points into STR. There should be no problems.

 _Master, it's not cool to say that when your hands are shivering._

My hands are not.

Armed with my umbrella-staff, I walked towards the backyard. I hope my opponent doesn't have too much added STR or my magic guard may be hopeless against it. Before I reached the open space behind it, I looked around. There weren't anyone there. Good. I needed to cast my barrier. Mir mumbled something beneath its breath, but I ignored it. I needed to cast my magic guard.

 _Master, do you really need to…?_

I was born to be a magician, and I fight along with my magic guard. I casted magic guard hastily and entered the battlefield behind.

'There you are. You did came straight right after my challenge,' Bully smirked at me. His expression changed a moment later to fear. I think it was due to the invisible potion's effects fading. Mir, come over. You might be seen if you are too close to the edge. Mir nodded at me and came closer to the Bully. He thought he was imagining it, so he started mumbling something. I vaguely made out some of the words. '….can't lose…can't lose…can't lose…can't…'

A sudden bright light shone from his body. What on earth? I lifted my hand to cover my eyes from the bright light.

 _Master? What's going on?_

The next moment I opened my eyes, a black monster with a skull face and huge fists had appeared by Bully. He was now unconscious, sitting on the ground. A blue spiked cap and two fireballs with eyes were around the monster that slightly resembled Bully. It was a strange sight as I was told there were no monsters around. The name of the monster was "Knuckle Troublemaker". A short description about it was mentioned for a brief period of time. "A Troublemaker that was created from the strong desire to win. His desire to win the fight has called forth this trouble maker."

 _Master._ Mir's voice was firm.

I know. Let's get rid of it before anyone else sees it, and you. I started to buff myself with skills as I usually do before a fight. Then I raised my umbrella, pointing the other tip towards the monster. 'Mir, Illusion.'

In that instant Mir flew in blinding speed around the monster. Knuckle Troublemaker attacked with punches and uppercuts, but Mir was too fast for it to hit, and my eyes to follow. The monster couldn't keep up with Mir's speed, and targeted at me instead when Mir flew up to the sky to charge towards it for the finish blow. It floated towards me, and in seconds, it was a few meters away from me.

'Master, look out!' Mir let out a cry, ready to fly towards the monster, but both of us knew that it wouldn't make it. I took the umbrella and whacked the monster before its fist could reach my face. While it was staggering, I casted a spell on it. 'Thunderbolt.'

 _Crash!_ The thunder I called forth struck the target with critical damage. The monster fell to the ground, then disappeared into nothingness. I let out a sigh of relief. Mir flew towards me and rubbed its face onto mine.

'I was worried, Master!' Mir said in relief. 'I thought you were going to die for a moment there!'

'Who do you think your Master is?' I asked. Then I looked at the still unconscious Bully. I headed towards him and gently slapped his face. 'Hey, are you awake?'

'Ugh… who do you think you are? I'm the strongest in this school?' Bully tiredly replied.

'What?'

'Mom… the soup is a little too sour…'

I guess he won't be awake any time soon. I left him alone.

Elwin called me right after. 'Hey, DragonGod, what are you doing? I told you not to use your powers in that world. Why did you use your skills?' he yelled through the phone. I had to bring the phone away from my ear for a moment. Geez, what's with people shouting these days?

'The name's now Evan. There was a monster. I had to use my skills to finish it off.'

'What? A monster? Are you serious? Then Master was right.'

'Oh? Did Master Grendel finally found out?' I teased.

'You expected it?' Elwin was angry. 'But you are right. He has shown up, and he's scarier than any monsters you know. Come back here, and Master Grendel will tell you more about what happened.'

'I can't.'

'Why?' Elwin asked in surprise.

'Well, your illusion potion had just worn out. Mir's going to be in the center of attention if I walk out of this place now.'

He groaned. 'Alright. I'll do something about it.' Then he hung up. A moment later, a portal appeared before me. Elwin was on the other side of it. 'Hurry on now.'

Mir and I entered the portal straight back to the house in Henesys. Grendel the Really Old was there with a girl who looked similar to Elwin. She had white hair with black edges on her head, wearing a maroon coat. Prefect was sitting on a couch, observing the floating old man. He nodded at Mir and I. 'Welcome, DragonGod,' Grendel smiled. 'I've always known Elwin was trouble, but this is a new record even for him – he opened a door to a parallel universe! I'm sorry you have to go through all this.'

'Oh no, it doesn't matter,' I said, smiling. This old man looked pretty serious for now. A long time ago he would pretend that he didn't know anything about my pet lizard –

 _Master._

About Onyx Dragons. He was a liar. Clearly he saw through Mir's identity on his first glance, but he wasn't too sure as Mir was still small. Yet he dropped many hints in his statement. I wasn't sure if he was testing me.

Grendel looked at the wardrobe. 'We need to contain this problem as quickly as possible. Please tell me what you experienced in the other world, DragonGod.' He turned towards me.

'Please, call me Evan,' I replied. I don't want to get confuse by living with two names at once. I started explaining of the incidents I saw on the other world. After it was done, Grendel nodded.

'I see. It definitely is a parallel universe where the same people in this Maple World live in a different reality.'

'Reality, huh?'

'It's like a Butterfly Dream: You can dream of being a butterfly, or be a butterfly dreaming about you. Each universe is real as the other. It's been believed that parallel universes cannot be observed or contacted. Up until now, there's not a passageway to connect two universes,' Grendel said.

'Oooh, I'm a genius!' Elwin praised himself.

'You knucklehead, do you still not know what you did?' Grendel flew into a rage and knocked Elwin's head with his staff. Elwin winced and staggered backwards. 'Parallel universes are best left alone without interference from each other!'

'Um… Then why don't we send that student back and close the hole? At least that's what I'm trying to do before you showed up…' Elwin touched the spot where Grendel had hit him and winced.

'The damage is already done! Thanks to you, the evil energy of Maple World had been introduced to the parallel universe!' Grendel scowled.

'Speaking of that…' I pulled out the smartphone from my pocket and showed it to them. Grendel, Elwin and the girl peered closer at the small screen.

'This is…?' Elwin muttered.

'Francis mentioned an earthquake. He said dark things fell from the sky. He took this picture when it happened. Would they be the dark energy of Maple World?'

'Francis of the other world…' the girl muttered.

'We don't know what exactly the evil energy is, but it can seep through the interdimensional rift and spread like a plague. We must collect every tendril of the energy before the situation worsens,' Grendel looked at me. 'Since you're already in the other world disguised as a student, I'd appreciate if you could help us contain this problem.'

'I'm on it, Grendel,' I grinned. There's nothing better than being on a quest and fighting monsters! That's what an adventure is all about! Mir cheered internally. Fortunately it hadn't started flying around and breaking things. Mir got angry and pushed me forward with its head.

Grendel cleared his throat. Both of us looked at him. 'I can't stay here for long, so I brought someone I trust to aid you. You already know that Elwin is a Barrier Master. This is Lily,' Grendel gestured to the girl. She nodded at me. 'She is a Manipulation Master.'

She extended her hand out to me when I approached her. 'You must be DragonGod. I'm Lily. When Elwin makes a mess, I clean it up just like this.'

I took her hand. 'Please, just call me Evan. You had it rough.'

'Don't act like my big sister,' Elwin pouted beside us as we shook hands.

'You were just born a bit earlier than I was.' Lily then turned back at me with a smile, ignoring Elwin without batting an eye. 'Now, where was I? Ah, right. As you can see, Elwin is my older brother. He's good at barrier magic, but he wasted his talent on stupid stuff while in school. Once he sealed off a school bathroom with me and my friends in it to suffocate us with the stench.' Lily sighed deeply when she mentioned the event.

'What a waste.' I looked at Elwin, who scowled at me when I gave him the look.

'Don't look at me like that. She manipulated my test paper the next day to make me fail!'

'I did, and I regret doing so. You only get 15 points even before I manipulated your score,' Lily glared at him.

'Are you kidding?' Elwin smirked. 'I got 17 points, not 15.'

Lily sighed, then proceeded to ignore him. 'As you know, my brother have created a mess, and I really need your help to clean it up, Dra-' she hesitated, then changed the term. 'Evan. But we need to do it without making a fuss. I don't want any unnecessary confusion to the people of the other world. Evan, I want you to remain in Shinsoo International School without drawing the student's attention to yourself.' I was amazed. She caught on quick.

'I might be a little too old for school, but I'll try.' Everything there was new to me, and it would require some time for me to fit in.

'This is a gift for you. I've been told that it's useful in the other world. I'll get you more whenever I can.' Lily gave me a silver needle. Was this what Big Headger was talking about? I thanked her and placed it into my bag. 'Thank you for your help, Adventure DragonGod – I mean, Student Evan.' she beamed at me. 'I look forward for our cooperation in the future.'


	4. Chapter 3 (FS Chapter 1)

After Grendel the Really Old's departure, we were dawned by a new problem.

'Go back to where you belong, otherworldly student!' Elwin told Prefect.

'No! You promised I could stay!' Prefect replied.

I looked at them from aside. 'What's going on?' Lily asked me, frowning.

'It's about rooms. There's only three bedrooms here, you see,' I told her. 'I was thinking to sleep over at Prefect's house, since I _am_ a student living at that house, but I'm not sure if he would allow a stranger to sleep on his bed.'

'That's it?' Lily looked at the two spatting at each other, and then shook her head in disappointment while sighing.

'You probably wouldn't allow Evan to sleep on your bed anyway, so go back now!' Elwin scowled.

'Never! I still have many things yet to see here! I'm staying, end of story,' Prefect attempted to end the conversation.

'Alright, quiet you two,' Lily joined in. The both of them glared at her, but she was unfazed by it and looked at Prefect straight in the eye. 'Since Evan's a student there, you'll allow him to sleep there, right?'

'I don't want my bed to be ruined when his dragon sleeps on it!' Prefect said, pointing at Mir.

'Mir doesn't sleep on the bed. No bedframe can withstand its weight anyway,' I replied.

Lily looked at me, and then back at him. 'No complains now, I assume?' Prefect said nothing. She nodded. 'All right, then it's done. Geez, isn't that easy?' She then turned towards me. 'You could've solved it.'

'I like to see people argue over stupid things,' I smiled. Prefect and Elwin scowled at me right after it.

Mir and I sparred a little while outside the house while Elwin and his sister cooked dinner. Prefect sat against the wall, staring at the both of us as we attempted to bring each other down with magic while being careful not to hit any of the Henesys's residents or houses. 'Isn't it nice?' he said suddenly.

Mir and I turned towards him, stopping our magic halfway through the battle. 'What is?' I asked as Mir landed in front of me.

'Having friends. You both looked close.'

I glanced at Mir. 'Master and I had been together since I was born. Of course we are close,' Mir spoke. 'When you had spent that much time with another person, it is normal to be so.'

'I don't. No one ever cares. They already have their own group of friends when I joined their class. None of them would come and ask me to be a part of them.' He then let out a heavy sigh. 'I'm envious at the both of you.'

'Well, aren't we friends?' I asked him. He looked up from the ground, surprised. I smiled at him. 'We _are_ helping each other out, right? That's what friends do.' Prefect gave a small smile at the statement.

'I guess you are right.'

'Dinner's ready!' Lily called out from the window.

'Let's go,' I called out to him. 'Can't let them keep waiting, right?'

He got himself up and nodded. The three of us entered the house and had a feast. Lily had prepared escargots made from orange mushrooms, red snails, sprouts, and chubby snails. There was a hint of wine from the smell. All of us enjoyed dinner, and Lily was rather happy about it. I guess she was the one who suggested making it, for Elwin doesn't seem to know how to cook complicated food like this. Then, Mir and I went through the interdimensional gate and slept in Prefect's bedroom. Mir coiled around the bed as usual.

I had a good sleep, which was surprising as I usually had problems sleeping in other people's bed. I guess I was tired. I made breakfast myself with bacon and eggs, and a pile of bacon for Mir. It seemed to love bacon. I applied the invisible potion Lily had given me onto Mir, and waited for its effect to work. Only then we left the house together.

Somehow Elwin knew I was up and ready to go to school. He called me as soon as I stepped foot out of the house. 'Hello, can you hear me, student Evan? Poing-poing!'

'Elwin, are you sick?' I asked in concern. Why is he making odd noises?

'Sorry. I know you're making a face right now. See, I was told that it was a popular greeting in this world,' he replied.

What's wrong with the standard "Hello" as an opening? 'What's the matter? Why did you call?'

'Why did I call, you ask? C'mon, don't be like that – we're a team now!' I didn't know what to react with that. When I didn't reply, he continued. 'I mean I've decided to help you while you're in this world. I feel bad about putting you into this mess I've created.'

'Did Lily forced you to say that?' It didn't sound like him at all.

'How rude! I know how to be nice, okay? Anyway, come at meet me.'

'Where?'

'At the front gate of the school. I'll be waiting for you!' he sounded cheerful. Is he going to be a transfer student there too? I hung up and headed to the school. There were other students on the way to school. They averted their gaze when theirs met mine. I frowned. I heard whispers as I pass by them.

'Gasp! Red umbrella. That must be the famed student.'

'That kid even looks threatening. Do you think the legend is true?'

'That's the famed transfer student. You know, the one who's bent on conquering the school.'

'That kid fought on his first day. Soooooo scary. We'd better not look at him in the eye.'

Uh oh. Did the word about Bully and I having a showdown at the backyard got out? Since he was unconscious, it was normal for them to think that I had fought with him, when none of us laid our fingers on each other. Looks like there's no way I can remain under the radar with this circulating around now. I continued my way to school.

Chauffeur was at entrance when I got there. He gave me a nasty look before leaving the area. I wonder if he had heard about the rumor, too. Before the school building was a small, brown puppy with dark brown spots on its body. It barked at me relentlessly, so I approached it, frowning. This couldn't be… right? I looked around, hoping I was wrong.

'Woof! Woof! Stop looking around. I'm right here!' the dog said.

It really is him. I squatted down in front of the disguised magician. 'A dog, huh?' Then I smirked at him. 'A dog, huh.'

'Hey! I know you're thinking of something rude! I'm disguised like this because animals are more popular than humans in this world.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'Interesting.'

'Today I was just standing still and five pretty girls stopped to pat me on the back. I feel more loved as a dog than as me.' He whispered those words rather proudly.

'Have you stopped to think that the reason you aren't loved as much is due to your horrible personality?' I whispered back. The dog growled at me. I laughed. Several students whispered as they walked past us. When the coast is clear, Elwin started to talk again.

'By the way, you must have made a serious impression on your first day. Every student I saw was talking about you. I heard you fought on the first day. Did you really punch down that big bully? He can knock out three teeth with one punch! Oh, you're good.'

'I didn't even touch him. The monster that appeared out of him made him fall to the ground. If anything, Mir's appearance may have frightened him a little.'

'I see. Be that as it may, others may think differently. After all, even a fraction of your original powers is superhuman strength to the people in this world.'

'I know that.'

'Anyway, try to keep a low profile. Our objective is to keep an eye of the possible appearances of the monsters, and being famed only interferes with it,' Elwin looked at me with a serious look.

'Easy for you to say, but as you had said before, everyone is keeping an eye on me when I won against the bully.'

'Well, think of something!' Elwin whispered, then he left me alone, walking towards the female students and barked at them for attention. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out to see who it was. Cygnus. I picked up the call.

'Hello, may I talk to the transfer student?' she asked politely.

'Hello, you are speaking to him right now.'

She chuckled. 'Welcome to Shinsoo International School. I called because I'd like to officially recognize you as a student of the school. Could you come see me at my office?'

'Office? Not a classroom?' I thought she was a student here.

'Yes, I'm in my office, not in a classroom. My office is at the far back of the hallway on the 1st floor. I'll be waiting for you.' Then she hung up. I looked at the screen of the phone for a moment. Why does she have her office in a school? Isn't the school's purposes was to let her study in it? I left my questions alone and entered the school. I almost forgot about opening the door for Mir until it started whining at the small gap.

'Oh, sorry.' I hurried back to the entrance and opened the door wide. Some of the students whispered about my weird actions. Let them say what they want. After all, they can't see Mir. I followed the directions Cygnus gave me. At the end of the hallway was a room with brown double door and two red flags with the school emblem on it on each side. It looks different from the two other rooms I've just passed by.

I knocked on the door. 'Come in,' Cygnus said from inside.

'Mir, stay here, okay?'

Mir was worried. _Okay._

I approached Cygnus who was sitting on a grand white couch near a table. There was a TV hanging on the ceiling. Lockers were placed to the right of the entrance, and books of different colors were arranged neatly on it. A kettle was on it too, for some reasons. Beside it was a big whiteboard with something written on its surface. A big red cloth with the school emblem was behind the table where someone important should be.

'Welcome,' Cygnus stood up and greeted me. A set of tea was placed on the table, one on her side and another on the other facing another white couch. I walked towards her. 'We've met before.'

'Isn't this the principal's office?' I frowned. 'Don't tell me, you are…?'

She chuckled. 'This school has no principal. Instead I'm in charge with all the administrative responsibilities in school. I'm on business training, you see. My family owns this school.'

I was right. She was the sole daughter of the Shinsoo Group Big Headger was talking about.

'Your name is… Evan, right? That's an unusual name. Strangely though, it sounds familiar to me as if I've heard it somewhere,' she smiled.

Well, of course it sounds familiar. I've attended the alliance she formed along with the other Maple heroes, Victoria Island's job instructors and Resistance forces in Ereve. Plus, there were dozens of Evans who had met her for the Will of Alliance skill for some boosts in damage.

'Maybe you really are my destin…' she trailed off, slapping her lips before the rest of the words were uttered. I raised an eyebrow. She shook her head in embarrassment, and said, 'Never mind.' She noticed my expression and uttered, 'Never mind. Please disregard what I just said. Ho ho ho!' she faked a laugh. Then, as if she remembered something, she became normal again. 'Oh, can you fill up this form?'

'What form?'

She handed me a pen along with a piece of paper, which somehow had a picture of me in it on the top left corner beneath a yellow maple leaf seal. Beside my picture was written "1st year, Shinsoo International School, Evan". Beneath them was "This is to certify that the above student is a student of Shinsoo International School.' I was surprised, for I didn't know I needed a paper to be officially approved as a student here. There was an empty column at the end of the paper, before it was written "My motto".

I don't think there was anything I could fill up in this thing as I don't have a motto. I handed the paper back to her. She looked at the bottom of the paper, then looked at me. 'Oh, don't you have a motto? Why don't you think of one now?' She chuckled.

A motto, huh?

I took the paper back and thought for a while. I remembered Grendel once told me a piece of advice I still take it to heart. 'Magic is an expression of your soul, DragonGod,' Grendel once spoke in a solemn tone when I was furious after unable to learn a skill. 'Calm your mind, and they will come out naturally.' I wrote his advice on the paper and gave it to Cygnus.

She read it and looked back at me. 'Evan, you're now an official student of the school. Welcome to Shinsoo,' she chuckled. I wonder what made her into such a good mood. She had been chuckling a lot. She placed the piece of paper into a file and stored it in the drawer at the table behind her. 'Oh, did you drop by the teacher's room? I think the head teacher is looking for you.'

'Who's the head teacher?' I asked. I don't remember knowing anyone who was a head teacher.

Cygnus chuckled again. 'It's Mr. Stan. The teacher's room is in the center of the 1st floor. The head teacher looks scary at first, but he has a heart of gold when you get to know him.' A heart of gold, huh? Maybe. I nodded and excused myself from the room. She waved me out of the room with a smile.

 _Oh, are you done? Is it recess now?_ Mir asked curiously.

Not yet. I still need to see Chief – No, Mr. Stan, the head teacher in the room next door. Mir was disappointed. I knocked on the teacher's office. No one said anything. I opened the door slowly. Stan and Arkarium was inside. Stan looked up from the pile of papers on his desk and stood up when I stepped into the room.

'Ah, you're the transfer student. Welcome,' he said when I got closer to him. 'I've been looking for you. I was told that you fought on your first day. Did you really knock him down?'

He must meant about the incident with Bully. 'No.'

'Hmph, no excuses!' he said sternly. 'Being good at fighting is not something to be proud of. You're more violent than you look.' I took that as a compliment. Many Maplers often look down at Evans as they are usually slow in attacking as well as facial looks that looked kind. Many of them often fall on their knees in shocked when I finished them off before they could do anything. I remained quiet and waited for his next words. 'I'll tell you this once: stay away from trouble. Got it?'

'If trouble doesn't find me.'

He was red from anger from that response. 'Why you…' he muttered under his breath, then calmed his anger by taking several deep breathes. 'Since this is your first offence, I'll let you off with a light punishment. But you'd better be careful from now on.'

I sighed. 'I told you I didn't do it. If you don't stop listening to others, your son might run away again…'

His eyes widened. 'What did you say?'

'Oh, nothing. What should I do?'

He scowled at me for a moment before he replied. 'You'll have to talk to the student president about that. Here's his phone number,' he handed me a piece of a paper with numbers on it. 'Call him. You _do_ know how to make a call, don't you?'

Looks like I didn't need to go through the hassle to find the person. The teachers were pretty lenient on using a smartphone. I took mine out and dialed the number written on the paper. If I wasn't mistaken, the most suitable candidate for such a job would be none other than the monocle-wearing strategist and manipulator of Ereve.

The person picked up the phone. 'Not interested.' Nineheart left those cold words and hung up. Such a cold person. I called him again. 'What now?' he said, irritated. 'I told you I'm not interested.'

'Student president, Mr. Stan told me to call you.'

'Hmph, is this your number, transfer student? I thought you were a phone salesman.' He didn't seemed to like me bothering him for some reasons. Was I interrupting him on something? It was rather interesting to know that salesman do business through phones. It would be a good idea.

'Right. I need to know –'

'I'm in the reading room on the 2nd floor. If you have something to say to me, then you can come here,' he cut me off. I clicked my tongue after he hung up on me. Bastard. I never liked him. I noticed Mr. Stan staring at me when I put my phone back into my pocket. A moment later his gaze broke off and he continued doing his things again. I shrugged the incident off and walked out of the office.

 _Master, can we go back home now?_ The dragon asked.

The class haven't started yet, Mir.

Mir was disappointed once more. _Where are you going then?_

Nineheart wants to see me. He's upstairs in a reading room – he probably meant a library. Mir got up from the ground and flew right beside me as we both got to the second floor. The first room I saw was a classroom labelled "2-1". I guess that must be the second grade's classroom in this school. I walked a bit further. One of the rooms had a book image as a label. This should be it. Mir didn't complain and sat outside the room. I patted its head and entered.

Nineheart sat at the furthest table in the room. There were only two shelves inside, each filled with books. Ms. Appropriation sat on the third table out of the five inside, holding a sketchbook while smiling. She was apparently called "Cassandra's Fan" in this world. I took note of the new name, then walked towards Nineheart who was busy with books and papers on his seat.

As if he could sense my presence, he looked up from them and turned towards me. 'Nice to meet you. You must be the famed transfer student,' Nineheart said while examining me. 'I've heard you fought and knocked down your opponent on your first day of school.'

I smiled. 'Looks like you obtained the wrong information.'

'What are you talking about? I know everything I need to know.'

'Oh?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Your name is Evan, and your motto is "Magic is an expression of your soul". I know everything about you. Your motto is as strange as your name,' he said smirking. Oh no, not this bullshit again. He knows nothing about me, and I think my name is rather good, picked by myself. Then he continued, 'I, Nineheart, know everything that happens in this school ground as soon as it happened. That's part of my job as the student president.' As usual, I couldn't help but be amazed of Nineheart's capability of obtaining information in a blink of an eye. I wonder who his information broker in here is.

'Right…' I nodded. What is he trying to imply about that?

'It seems every student is talking about you these days,' he crossed his arms. Whoa, isn't the incident just yesterday? Which part of one day ago is "these days"? 'They seem to believe you're the transfer student from the legend.' Oh, so it wasn't about the fight. I frowned at the sentence. What legend is he talking about? He then added, 'For your information, I don't believe in superstitions like legends and fate.'

The need for him to say such a sentence made me narrow my eyes at him. 'Okay.'

He ignored my subtle remark. 'I don't know why you've decided to come to this school, but I'll be watching everything you do. And if you do _anything_ to hurt Miss Cygnus, I _won't_ forgive you,' he said with a stern look. Looks like Seoul's Nineheart is as protective as Maple's Nineheart. I nodded at him. I thought the talk was over, but he continued, 'In compliance with school regulations clause 3 article 6, I'll put you on cleaning duty as your punishment. Recently strange dust balls and dark stains have been discovered recently.'

I reacted on the last sentence. Were those marks of the dark energy that sipped into the interdimensional portal? Looks like it had been bearing roots and allowed itself to be seen.

'You know this school consists of 4 stories,' Nineheart now shifted his gaze to the paperwork in front of him. I actually didn't know how many stories this school had. 'I want you to clean the 3rd floor hallway, the 4th floor hallway and the rooftop during recess. When you're done cleaning those three places, come back here.' I don't like the way how he said that. It feels like he's going to give me an enormous amount of duties in the future, using me as a pawn as his alter ego did. "The loss of one adventurer is better than the loss of many Chief Cygnus Knights." He once told me when there was a mystery in Sleepywood.

'Alright.'

'You can go now.'

I sighed. I didn't like cleaning duties, but it doesn't seem like I have a choice but to play along with this "school business". I wonder if the newly-came Cygnus Knights had to follow his orders. I got out of the library. Mir didn't question me this time, which was surprising. I headed back to my classroom and waited for the bell to ring.

There was physical education. I wasn't surprised to see another Black Mage's Commander being my teacher anymore, after seeing the bearded old mage being my biology teacher. Magnus sure looked odd without his horns and his usual evil grin on his face. Perhaps Magnus in this world wasn't as bad as he was in Maple World. He started off by asking us to run 15 laps around the field. It sounded simple enough, but many were whining that it was too much. I guess students in Seoul didn't do much physical work like in Maple World. After all, there weren't anything physical they could do.

Francis looked like he was about to faint after 1 lap. Magnus would yell at those who didn't run and chased after them with a stick. I jogged beside him. 'Are you okay? You don't look so good,' I asked Francis.

'I'm… I'm… obviously… not… not…' he was trying to speak will panting.

'Say no more, Francis,' I suddenly felt bad for asking him.

On his third lap, Francis fainted. Magnus asked me to bring him to the nurse's office on the fourth floor. It looks like I have to carry him up. Why was the school's nurse's office placed at such a high place? I looked at the stairs in despair as I carried Francis on my back, my legs worn out from the run. I looked around. There was no one in the hallway.

'Mir, can you carry us? I'm tired,' I whispered.

 _But Master, Elwin told us not to attract any attention!_

'Francis's out cold and there's no one there. Please?'

 _Master, there might be people coming down from upstairs… and you might be seen floating when they walked by the stairs…_

'Mir, please?' I pleaded.

It finally complied with my begging and got me up on its back. Mir flew up, stopping at every floor to look out for anyone walking by. There were no one, to our relief, and it stopped on the fourth floor.

 _Please don't ask me to do this again…_

'I can't guarantee.' I made sure the grip I had on Francis was secure enough before entering the nurse's office. 'Hello? Someone fainted from P.E.,' I said. The first person I saw in the office was the other Black Mage's commander I expected to see – the scantily clad gypsy. She was busy caking her face with powder when I entered. 'Hello?' I walked to her front and asked again.

'Oh. What brings you here?' it was then she finally stop staring at her reflection off a pink compact.

'My friend fainted during P.E.' I gestured towards him. 'Where can I lay him down?'

'Over there.' She pointed to her right, then ignoring me again as she continued to powder her face. 'Oh dear, there are those ugly spots again…' I shook my head. At least in Maple World I didn't need to stop and wait for her to finish powdering her face white before going for a battle. I headed to where she pointed, and there was a bed behind the white curtain sheets. Gently I put Francis down and sighed. He probably shouldn't have tried. Then I left the nurse's office and continued with my classes.


	5. Chapter 4 (FS Chapter 1)

As told, the first thing I did when I left the classroom was to clean the hallways. I took out a broom and a dustpan from the locker placed in the middle of the 3rd floor hallway and started to work out the mess. The dusts below a sealed vent nearby was an exceptionally large pile, so I started there first, putting my dear umbrella leaning against the wall near me. I hoped the rest of this floor wouldn't be as dirty as this.

Before I could start the action of sweeping, two seniors came up to me. 'Please leave it! We'll take care of it!' one of them said as another took the broom and dustpan away from my hands. I raised an eyebrow.

'This is my job. You don't need to do it,' I stretched out my hand towards the light brown haired male who took my equipment. He shook his head and took a few steps behind.

'Worry not,' he replied and started sweeping. I wanted to head towards the locker for more equipment, but as if he knew what I was about to do, he warned, 'Do not lift a hand!' His friend took out a mop from the locker and started to clean up the stains left on the floor after the light brown haired male had dealt with the large pile of dust. Throughout the process they were tossing nervous glances at me while I looked at them work.

 _Wow, aren't they nice, Master? They're helping you out!_ Mir said cheerfully. _Shouldn't we head to the fourth floor now?_

While it was certainly nice to have someone helping me out even though I have not asked for any, I didn't like this treatment at all. They revealed their core plan after I continued staring at them even though the work was done. 'Please remember our faces,' the student who had his fringe swept to the right pleaded. 'All we ask you is that you never hurt us.' Then they scurried away towards the stairs.

Great. Now that has happened, this information would be twisted as it reaches Nineheart's ears. I headed towards the fourth floor in haste along with my umbrella, hoping there wouldn't be another pair who would help me do these things. I stumbled upon the nurse's office before I moved towards the center of the hallway and remembered that Francis was there, so I paid him a little visit. He was sitting up on the white bed, with Hilla nowhere to be found. Francis turned towards the entrance upon the sound of the sliding door.

'Oh, Evan,' he smiled as I walked towards him. 'Thank you for bringing me here. It must be tough after running 15 laps and having to carry me up to the fourth floor.' He looked at me apologetically.

Technically, I didn't carry him up after the workout. Secretly in my heart I thanked Mir. 'It's alright. Are you feeling better now?'

'Yeah,' he chuckled embarrassed. 'Maybe I should work out more.' Then he shook his head. 'No, I don't need to. I have the power of the black dragon in my right arm!' he started snickering. I forced a grin. I had forgotten that Seoul's Francis has a few screws loose when he is comfortable.

'Right, glad to hear it. I'll be off then. The Student President is making me doing some chores to atone my sins,' I waved at him and left the room. Before I closed the door, I saw him waving back through the gaps. It would seemed like the both of us had really became friends. It would be a pain if I were to leave here suddenly, right? The thought made me aware of my situation. I would not be staying here for a long time.

 _Master, what's with the serious look?_ Mir asked.

It's nothing. I inspected the hallway, trying to locate the biggest pile of dusts at the 4th floor. Coincidentally, it was under the vent near a locker filled with cleaning equipment, just like the 3rd floor. This time, I looked at the description of the pile of dust first. It read, "A pile of dust balls just begging to be swept." Before I could get to the locker to start working on the pile, a girl called out from behind.

'Wait, wait!' she said, followed by the sounds of footsteps. I turned around to find two girls running towards me. I recognized them. They were from my class. I frowned.

The girl who had her fringe swept to her left stopped in front of me while the other girl who had curly hair ran past me towards the locker. It wouldn't be the same again, right? She hesitated to open her mouth despite standing right in front of me and I cocked my head to look at her expression. She then noticed my glance and started speaking up. 'Oh, hey!' she started off feigning bold. 'You don't have to get your hands dirty, uh… Evan, right? Leave it to us.' She faked a smile and headed towards the locker. The curly haired girl handed her a broom and a dustpan while she took a duster.

 _Wow. Master, you have made so many "friends"._ Surprisingly, the usually stupid Mir managed to read the situation. It bumped its head on my back in anger of the description I had just thought about it and almost made me lose balance. The girls turned around in fear as I acted as if nothing had happened. They exchanged glances and started working on it as I became the third party that observed them. A student walk past me, and as soon as he saw me looking at him, he ran away.

'Why are you doing this?' I asked them as they worked on the pile.

The curly haired girl changed the topic. 'I've heard many things about you, Evan. So, you're the fateful transfer student in the legend, eh? Let's be friends, ho ho.' She smiled at me, then continued cleaning the dusts. Afterwards they departed, leaving me in misery as Elwin's words rang by my ears. Some of the students quickly walked past me as I headed towards the stairs heading towards my final destination, the rooftop. Everyone's eyes were on me. In normal situation, it would be nice. But not _this_ situation.

A sloppy purr greeted me as I entered the rooftop, apart from the wind and the scenery of a small garden with several benches around it. I looked around to find the source. I wouldn't be surprised if Lily came to help me as well. The purring continued. I opened the door wide enough to allow Mir to enter the rooftop before I started exploring.

 _Master, this feels nice! I want to stay outside forever!_

I will let you sit outside the school from now on, then.

 _No, I don't mean that!_ Mir quickly said. _I want to be with you!_

I laughed while walking towards the source of the sloppy purr. It sounded tired as I approached the air conditioner unit close to the edge of the rooftop. Elwin in dog form barked at me from the nearby benches. Above the air conditioner unit stood a grey cat with black spots and a blue ribbon around its neck. 'Lily?' I asked.

'Oh, how did you know I'm Lily?' the cat jumped off the unit and landed in front of me. I squatted down in front of her. 'I thought my disguise was flawless. You have the look as if you anticipated this. Yes, I came to this world too because I cannot entrust everything with Elwin.'

'Hey!' Elwin barked.

'You came to clean up the rooftop, right? Tsk, tsk,' Lily shook her head. 'You're already blacklisted. You're in for a bumpy ride.'

'Oh? I hit the jackpot?' I grinned. This meant that I'm about to fight. 'Anyway, maybe you've heard, but the student president said that recently dust balls and dark stains are being discovered around school frequently.'

'They must be traces of monsters,' she said, then shot a look at Elwin. I nodded. 'We can talk later. Behind this thing is a portal which leads to an alternate dimension of this area, made by Elwin to put the monsters in one place. Could you subjugate the monsters inside? Collect their drops if they have any. I'll wait here just in case anyone comes by while you're inside.'

'Well, before that, what's with the sloppy purrs you made earlier?' I sat down on the floor cross-legged, my umbrella placed beside me. 'Surprisingly Elwin's barks are more realistic.'

Elwin chuckled at Lily, who was flushed by my statement. 'W-what do you mean? It was a flawless disguise!'

I rested my head on my right hand. 'It isn't. Try practicing your purring skills with me. Practice makes perfect, you know.'

'Hurry up and defeat the monsters, dammit!' she was flustered.

'Well, Evan is a pretty skilled magician, so defeating them wouldn't take too long. Why not fix your skills into being a cat?' Elwin grinned. Lily hissed at him and slapped him with her paws.

'It's not like I'll be a cat forever! I don't need to practice such a trivial manner.' Lily looked at me. 'Hurry up and do your job, Evan!'

'There's no counting how long I would be stuck here, right? Why not master the technique of meowing before the day where someone notices you being odd comes?' I pointed out the fact. Lily glared at me. Mir sat down beside me, creating a wave of wind by its actions and made both Elwin and Lily jumped.

'What was that?' Elwin asked, frightened.

Mir attempted a purr. I laughed as it sounded like a bass note from a horn. Elwin let out a sigh of relief and poked the invisible Mir.

Lily placed her right paw on her forehead. 'Evan, please…'

'I'm serious. Practice your purring skills with me.'

Lily couldn't negotiate with me to work with her. Elwin smirked at her, and at the end she compromised with me. 'M-meow…' she began.

'You're hesitating.'

'It's embarrassing! Try doing it yourself.'

I looked at her and meowed. 'Even his purring skills are better than you,' Elwin commented with a smug grin. Lily swiped at him with her right paw, but Elwin managed to dodge it. I chuckled at the sibling fight. Lily heard it and cleared her throat to show her maturity. She then tried purring several times, each time sounding either too forced or half-assed.

'It's not working, huh…' I sighed after five minutes, crossing my arms as I thought of a way trying to make her master the art of meowing. I didn't think it was that hard to mimic the sounds of a cat, but I guess not everyone is capable of doing something similar.

'Wait, I think I got it…' Lily said. 'Meow~'

For a moment, I thought it was a normal cat in front of me and I petted her head without thinking. Lily looked at me in surprised. I pulled back my hand. I blinked and looked at my hand. 'Sorry. I thought you're a real cat in that split second,' I said apologetically. Lily looked flushed and didn't say anything. I guess she was deep in shock – I would be, too.

'Well, it's working!' Elwin cheered. 'Lily made her first good purr!'

'Yeah. Congrats,' I smiled.

'Give me a pet on the head too!' Elwin barked at me. I laughed at his childishness and petted him. Mir got jealous when it looked at Elwin's comfortable face and squeezed its head under my right hand, lifting my hand up away from Elwin's puppy head.

 _I want it, too!_

I grinned and gave it a pet on the head too. 'Ah, no fair!' Elwin pouted.

Lily finally spoke. 'Well, you get what you wanted, right?' she scowled. 'Now hurry up and subjugate the monsters in the portal behind the unit!'

'Right, right.' I nudged Mir's head and picked up my umbrella. 'I'll be back in five minutes.'

'Hmph, don't be so confident about that,' she replied. I laughed and stepped into the blue portal. True enough, the world behind the portal looked similar to the rooftop I was in earlier, but with the additional of several platforms. Black monsters that looked like wraiths in black cloth and a skull mask appeared as soon as I step foot into it, and a timer of ten minutes stood above the portal.

'Ready for a fight, Mir?' I started casting buffs.

'Yes, Master!' it replied cheerfully.

Before I started to eliminate them, I hit them with a normal swing of my staff to read their names. The flying ones that had stirge-like wings and a gold pendant were called "Flying Dusts". It attacked me with a red shockwave move, but it missed. Mir used Illusion and it died on the second attack.

'They're weaker than yesterday's Troublemaker,' Mir commented.

'Maybe because they don't have a vessel to come out from.'

The other small monster had a piercing above its left skull eye was called "Dust". Upon attacked, it reveals a hidden hand to claw its opponents. A slightly bigger version of it that had a Mohawk and a hand shown at all times holding a gold coin with purple glow around its eyes was called "Shooting Dust". As its name implies, it shoots its opponents with the coin. A taller Dust with green glow around its eye sockets and a frowning mask with two piercings on its left eye while holding two green glowing fires on its palms was called "Poison Dust", which infects its opponents in poison. Mir panicked when I had the poison effect floating above my head and finished off several Dusts with Flame Wheel.

At the platform above those three Dusts roamed Rolling Dust and Hollow Dust. Rolling Dust has spikes above its head, piercings beside its left eye and fist out in a stance ready to fight. However, its fighting style revolves mainly on rolling towards the enemy, only swiping them when they are near. Mir was injured by it when it lowered down its guard after finishing the ones in front of it. Hollow Dust reminded me of something the Francis was telling me in class yesterday, something about some anime that I don't quite remember. It has a spherical look and spikes above around it. Gold chains were used to support to scowling mask on its face. A string-like structure with a spark that cannot be extinguished hang on its head, looking like a bomb. It doesn't have any hands, and when attacked it would fall to the ground to create fire shockwaves and breath fire. Upon defeat it would self-destruct. It scalded my right wrist when I was observing the red cloud it left after it disappeared.

Mir used Flame Wheel and Blaze to defeat all of them while I was observing their skills, not leaving a single one for me. They dropped a lump of dust with blue-purple glow around it. They were called "Strange Dusty Lump", its description was "Yucky lump covered in filthy dust. Don't want my hands to get dirty from this." True enough, I wouldn't want to do that, but I had no choice but to pick up fifty of them for Lily to analyze them. Fortunately the bag had slots which prevented the lump to cover the other items in my bag with dusts.

I left the portal before the five-minute mark. Waiting for me behind the portal were Lily and Elwin, who stood in front of the air conditioner unit. 'Oh, you're fast,' Elwin said. 'How was it?'

'Easier than the monster I saw yesterday. They dropped some strange lump of dusts.' I squatted in front of them. 'I'll hand it to you later, Lily.'

'Good job. Those monsters you fought… Dusts, for short. Elwin and I had found them around the school grounds. They will be pulled inside the portals Elwin created to trap them, but there is no telling if they will get to the students before the portal could trap them.'

'They pose some sort of threat to the students then?'

'Fortunately, they like to stay in the dark, so they don't come out often. But the students aren't completely safe if more dangerous and aggressive monsters decide to join their ranks, like the Troublemaker you told us about during dinner yesterday.'

'They didn't appear in the portal it seems. Maybe they require some sort of specific conditions to appear, like a vessel.'

'Your theory may be right, but we'll find out soon enough when I investigate the lump of dusts you've collected. For now, you need to focus on maintaining your cover as an ordinary student. You cannot let others see you talking to me, or Elwin. For people who have no magic, talking to animals calls for psychiatric attention.'

'Well, it's sort-of your fault as the both of you turned into cats and dogs…' I pointed out.

'Lily!' Elwin whispered, then started barking like a normal dog and ran away from the both of us.

'Whoops, someone is coming up!' Lily whispered, then she started her sloppy purring again and left. I guess the training didn't work. As I stood up, the door towards the rooftop flung open. Looks like Lily and Elwin's senses had hyped up in their animal form. They could hear sounds that human ears cannot hear usually. The three male Chief Cygnus Knights appeared from the door. They were laughing and talking at first, but when they noticed me, their expression turned solemn.

'Err, who are you? I'm sorry, but you're trespassing our turf,' Hawkeye said. His tone indicated that I wasn't welcome here. He wore a similar hat as his alter ego, but his hat looked more like a baseball hat instead of a pirate's hat, even though they both have a pirate mark in the middle.

'Right. Sorry.' I don't want to stir up another rumor like yesterday's incident with Bully.

'You sounded like a thug, Hawkeye,' Mihile chuckled as he rested a wooden sword on his shoulders. A white headband was tied firmly around his head.

'By the way, you don't look familiar,' Eckhart said, his left hand in his pants pocket and a pair of headphones on his ears.

'Right, you don't look familiar to me, too.' Hawkeye then noticed my umbrella. 'Ah, I got it! You're the transfer student, aren't you? That red umbrella you hold shows it. Everyone in the school is talking about you. Did you really knock down the first grade bully using only a finger?' I frowned. What had the rumors become?

Mihile shook his head. 'No, it was a toe.'

'No, it was that kid's sheer presence,' Eckhart replied. His statement was actually quite accurate, but it wasn't my presence, but Mir's. However, I cannot justify the fact that it was Mir's presence, for they cannot see it at all. Speaking of which, I wonder if it was Mir's sheer presence that spawned the Troublemaker from Bully. Then it hit me. Its description said that it was called from Bully's desire to win the fight. The Troublemaker's existence may be related to a person's strong desire. I should tell Lily about this later.

'Anyway, it's rude to not introduce ourselves,' Hawkeye grinned, now that he had adjusted to my presence. 'I'm Hawkeye, a second grade student and the captain of the Taekwondo club. Nice to meet you, transfer student.' I wonder what Taekwondo is, but it might be related to fists like Maple World's Hawkeye. He extended his hand for a handshake and I took his.

'My name is Mihile. A second grader as well as the captain of the Kendo club.' Mihile did the same as Hawkeye.

The duo turned towards Eckhart. I knew he was a quiet person, so he may be wary of me. Mihile and Hawkeye's gaze made him uncomfortable and he finally gave up on being silent. 'Eckhart. Second grader. A member of the underground club.' Then he quietly observed me.

'It must be serendipity that we've met. Why don't you join the Taekwondo club?' Hawkeye asked, grinning. 'Girls are attracted to tough guys. If you want to be popular, then you should join the Taekwondo club.' Hearing this made me less wanting to join his club, for my quest is to lay low.

'No, there's nothing like kendo to discipline your mind and body,' Mihile nodded at me. Is this some sort of recruitment contest?

'You don't look like someone who likes to play by the books. Join my Underground Fight Club.' Eckhart joined in.

'Hey, stop trying to steal that kid!' Hawkeye scowled at the Chief Knights of Light and Dark. 'I called dibs on that kid first!'

'Well, he didn't say that he would like to join _your_ club, right?' Mihile smirked.

'It's his decision at the end,' Eckhart said as he slipped both hands into his pants pockets. Hawkeye gritted his teeth and turned towards me. Both of them looked at me as well, hoping that I would join them. But I wasn't interested in doing so at all. Joining their club means that I needed focus on it, too, and I have very low STR.

'That sounds too much of a hassle,' I replied.

'Hmph, that's not cool,' Hawkeye said, disappointed.

'Too much of a hassle? You're as lazy as Hawkeye,' Mihile smiled. I'm not quite lazy as they think, but it would help to solve the current problem. I forced a smile at his sentence.

Hawkeye wasn't pleased. 'Don't compare that kid to me!' he pointed at me. Mihile laughed while Eckhart turned away to hide his laughter. 'Not you too, Eckhart!' Hawkeye scowled.

'What were you doing at the rooftop, anyway?' Mihile asked when he stopped teasing Hawkeye.

'Cleaning the rooftop as punishment for yesterday's incident,' I replied. Even though I wasn't quite involved and vulgar as they say I am.

'On cleaning duty as punishment. Tsk, tsk,' Mihile shook his head. 'Now you're trapped in the endless cycle of errands for the Student President.'

I sighed. 'It seems so. I should go visit him now.'

'Well, if you changed your mind, call us. We'll give you our phone numbers.' Hawkeye seemed to have bounced back from his anger and walked towards me while pulling out his phone. Mihile and Eckhart huddled forward to receive my number, too. 'Bye now. See you again, transfer student,' Hawkeye grinned as I left. I waved at them and headed towards the library at the second floor to meet with the manipulator strategist. As I opened the door wide for Mir to pass through, Elwin barked and ran through the door as well.

He seemed to be trying to tell me something. He barked at me three times, and then started running down the stairs. I glanced at Lily who hid in the bushes. Looks like she would be the only one there for now. I headed downstairs to the reading room and found Elwin standing in front of the door. As I approached him, he barked at me again. I opened the door and he dashed inside. A scream followed afterwards and I realized it was Ms. Appropriation who was about to leave. I let the door open for her to leave and she muttered a soft "thank you" before running towards the stairs. I entered the room and found Nineheart looking around for Elwin's whereabouts, but he stopped when he saw me.

'Oh, welcome back. Did you finish your cleaning duty?' he said, maintaining his composure.

'Of course.'

He sighed. 'You're lying. You frightened other students into cleaning for you.'

While it wasn't true, I cannot deny it as I stood at the sidelines as I watch them clean the mess I should've done, other than the rooftop. Besides, no matter what I would say, I cannot deny the fact that the snowballing rumors had frightened them into believing that I am an intimidating person. I remained silent for I have nothing to tell him.

'Oh? You wouldn't even deny it. So it was true. I told you I'd watch everything you do.' He sounds like a crazy stalker at this point. 'I'd better keep a watchful eye on you. You'd better brace yourself, Lying Transfer Student.' Then he walked past me after one final glance. I sighed after he slid the door close. It would be hard to go under Nineheart's radar, but I have no choice, right? Elwin popped out from the pile of books lying near the shelves at the back of the room.

'Sounds like trouble. That man is too keen,' Elwin said after scanning around the room for other students.

'It's Nineheart we're talking about. That strategist is always like that.'

'You don't seem to be affected by his words even though he said that he would keep his eyes peeled on your every actions,' Elwin frowned. 'You do realize that our mission is on stake, right?'

I grinned. 'The more the merrier, isn't it? I like challenges, after all. It feels good to overcome one, especially a big hurdle.'


	6. Chapter 5 (FS Chapter 1)

This chapter and the next (Chapter 6 FS Chapter 1) is longer than the usual average 4k words of the previous chapters. I apologize for the lack of uniform of these chapters. The next chapter (Chapter 7 FS Chapter 2) should start with an average 5.5k word count (which will be released around the end of January). Thanks for reading!

* * *

I headed towards the cafeteria for lunch. Francis told me when we passed by each other that they served the best ramen he had ever eaten. I haven't tasted ramen since I last visited Zipangu, which was a very long time ago, so I've decided to try it out. The cafeteria was almost empty when I got there, which wasn't too surprising as recess was almost over. Quickly I ordered a bowl of ramen from a nearby old lady behind a counter. She gave me a smile and served it to me in no time, a big bowl of ramen with chicken and mushroom toppings. Then she asked for the money.

'It's 2,500 mesos,' she said. I handed over the money, which turned into paper money and coins instead of bags of mesos like the usual drops. Then I glanced at the wall clock behind her. Fifteen minutes before recess ends. I should be able to finish the bowl of ramen with five minutes to spare. I lifted up the tray filled with ramen, chopsticks and a spoon, then turned around and sit at a nearby table.

'And then… huh?' A voice coming from the table beside mine sounded familiar as I placed the tray onto the table. It was the Chief Cygnus Knights. 'What a coincidence, transfer student. Speaking of which, we never really gotten your name,' Hawkeye said.

Oh, I had forgotten about that. 'It's Evan.' I glanced at the items they were eating. In front of Hawkeye was a plate with one bread with creams in between. A plastic written "Red Bean Bun" was beneath an empty bottle of milk placed in front of Mihile. An empty plate with crumbs rested in front of Eckhart. Hawkeye looked at the food in front of me.

'Oh, ramen? Looks delicious. It's been a while since I've eaten ramen from the cafeteria.' Hawkeye eyed the bowl hungrily. I pushed it away from him and he narrowed his eyes at me. 'Let me swap one bite of the ramen with this cream puff!'

'Not a chance.' Mihile laughed at my response.

'Hmph! This cream puff is better than that ramen anyway!' then Hawkeye wolfed down the thing called cream puff.

'Was I interrupting something?' I asked when they stared at me eating ramen. It was very unpleasant to be stared at when I was eating.

'Oh, nothing. Earlier, the first grade bully tried to claim the rooftop from the three of us. It was a funny incident,' Hawkeye laughed upon recalling it.

I noticed Eckhart's fists were red. He must be in a fight with Bully earlier. Mihile and Hawkeye weren't involved, from the looks of their hands. Eckhart knew that I saw the redness of his knuckles and covered it with one hand. 'It was nothing,' he said. I shifted my gaze back to my ramen.

'What's up with that guy anyway? He claimed to be the rumored "Fateful Transfer Student" when it's this guy right here,' Hawkeye said.

It's about the rumor again. What's the deal with "Fateful Transfer Student" anyway? Nineheart seemed to be wary of me because of this. 'He sure picked the wrong guys to fight with,' Mihile nodded. 'All he knows is to talk big. He's not much of a deal.'

'He may have a motive for claiming himself as the rumored guy,' Hawkeye glanced at me. I swallowed the ramen in my mouth and frowned at him. 'Say, what do you think about the first grade bully?'

'Nothing.' I wasn't interested into dealing with the situation that doesn't involve in Dusts. Hawkeye laughed.

'Right? Well, we should get going now. See you later, Evan,' he got up from his seat and waved at me. The rest followed after him, taking their own plates or rubbish and throwing them into their respective containers. I caught Eckhart glancing at me before he left the table. I had a feeling that they're keeping an eye on me, too. Do they suspect me being suspicious, or they're Nineheart's eyes? Either way, I should be careful about it. I glanced at the wall clock across the room. Ten more minutes before recess ends. I took another five minutes to finish the meal, then popped the tray's contents at a container filled with empty plates and bowls and stacked the tray beside it.

Class resumed again. It was such a tiring activity despite not much work have done, but my ass hurts a lot. Do every student in Seoul get used to this thing? I wasn't used to sitting for such a long period, so I shifted myself most of the time in class. Finally it was time to go back. Francis hovered to my seat as I packed my bag. 'Hey, want to hang out together?' he asked. 'I've got something to show you. It will widen your range about anime!'

It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I should go back before evening. 'Sure.' Francis smiled. Bully seemed to be absent since the recess. I wonder if he was that badly beaten up by Eckhart. He is strong, after all.

The both of us left the classroom together as Francis told me about the new anime he had seen and would like to introduce some "manga" to me. It sounded like a comic from the way he described it. I nodded as we walked towards the entrance. Mir seemed to know that I had a plan on exploring the area and said nothing. Fortunately, the door was open wide for the students to leave and enter freely, so I didn't need to do it to make sure Mir was safely out of the school. He told me about several anime who seemed promising ended up failing his hopes from several seasons. I realized most of the things he said were related to supernatural things (like existence of magic and rare weapons) and it made me wonder if anyone had actually travelled to Maple World to write such a thing.

Francis brought me to a store where it was filled with thin black boxes with drawn covers and books that may be comic. The store was located out of the mini map, so it was a new experience to me. It was called "Animanga District". Sure enough, it was a big store filled with many things related to what Francis had told me. Mir didn't attempt to enter the store as it had many people and shelves inside. _I'll stay outside. I don't like small spaces like this._

I followed Francis as he briefly explained some anime that he liked. "By the way, what genre of anime do you like?' he asked after a while in the store.

Genre? I don't know what he meant by that. Judging from several anime that I heard from him, most of them contains action. Is that a genre? I decided to give it a shot. 'Action.'

He nodded and led me to another shelf filled with books. 'Here. It's mainly action, so pick a few to try them. Some of them are a long series, so keep an eye at the numbers written on the cover.' There were so much to choose from this one shelf filled with action-related comics. I picked three out of Francis's suggestions and paid for it. Then we parted ways, returning to each of our homes.

 _What did you buy, Master? Is it magic books?_ Mir asked when we were on the bridge towards Prefect's home.

Of course not. Magic books doesn't exist here. It's something they called as "manga" – it's like a comic book, but with a different style of art and storytelling. I'll show you later when we get back. Mir was excited.

'You're late!' Lily said after I entered the interdimensional portal wardrobe. I forced a smile. 'We're worried that you might encounter another Troublemaker and got yourself in trouble!'

Elwin laughed. "Well, Troublemakers do make troubles! Get it?' he looked around. I laughed. That was some pun. Lily was not amused.

'By the way, where's your dragon?' Prefect asked, looking behind me. 'I don't seem to see it anywhere.'

'Mir is still under the effects of the illusion potion. It should fade soon.'

'Right, the items that you've collected?' Lily reached out to me. I opened my bag and pulled out Strange Dusty Lumps. Prefect shrieked in horror as I put them onto Lily's hand.

'Gasp! How are you not fazed by that nasty piece of work?' Prefect said in disgust. Upon a longer stare he realized it was glowing. 'Wow, it glows.' He got too close to the dusts and started sneezing.

'I'll investigate it right away. Elwin, you'll deal with dinner tonight, okay?' Then she left the house without waiting for Elwin's response. He sighed after the door was closed behind her.

'Right. Maybe we should call for some pizza tonight,' he scratched the back of his head. 'I'm too tired to cook today.'

'Gasp! You have pizza here too?' Prefect's eyes sparkled in joy. 'Let's have pizza then!'

'I told you not to say "gasp" every now and then! It sounds stupid and it _is_ stupid!' Elwin jeered.

'But everyone in my world says that! You even asked me how they greet each other this morning!'

Elwin flinched. 'Well, that's… different!'

I sighed and turned towards Mir as they continued their useless squabble. The potion seemed to have lose its effects and the Onyx dragon stood beside me, cocking at me as it noticed my gaze. 'Want to have a spar today?' I grinned. Mir nodded in excitement. Both of us left the house together and started out evening training. I stretched myself before starting.

'Master, you seemed to have a lot on your mind,' Mir said as it stood on the ground in front of me. I pointed my staff at it.

'Well, I have Nineheart and his gang's eyes on me. I haven't seen Irena and Oz around though. They should be appearing soon,' I replied, readying my stance. 'Perhaps the other Black Mage Commanders, too. I wouldn't be too surprise if I were to find Demon Slayer or Demon Avenger there, too. The only one I saw that haven't appeared was Orchid.'

'I don't think they exist there,' Mir started flying. 'The humans there don't have wings or horns. Magnus looked old, too.'

I laughed. 'He probably don't look too evil, so it makes you think of that.'

Mir spread out his wings and casted Killer Wings on me. A pair of black wings on a purple magic symbol floated on my head. I grinned as it started to cast Flame Wheel. I avoided its line of effect and heard a scream from behind. A woman was startled by the sudden flame wheel passing by her front door. 'Thunderbolt,' I muttered under my breath as I pointed my staff at distracted Mir. It narrowly avoided my magic and I saw its eyes turning blue afterwards. I ran around it as it tried to follow my movements.

'What's going on?' Elwin asked. It was rather unfortunate that Mir spewed Ice Breath at the front door, freezing Elwin's legs. 'Ugh, a magic battle?'

I summoned a Frozen Orb and whacked it towards Mir. It flew away before the orb reached enough range to attack Mir, though its fallen shards made its path frozen. Then the skies turn dark. Oh shit, Mir got a little too excited in the battle. 'Mir, stop!' I yelled. But it was too late. Its eyes were glowing purple.

'Is it going to rain?' Prefect popped out from the entrance while Elwin used a simple fire magic to melt away the ice around his leg. Quickly with my staff I drew a simple magic circle on the ground, which was taught by Grendel the Really Old to use when things go awry. I tapped the center of the magic circle twice as the second batch of purple lightning started to strike the ground. The dark cloud quickly dissipated after my actions, leaving Mir in confusion.

'Huh? I thought I've casted Dark Fog…' Mir said as it landed on the ground. I sighed in relief. Elwin seemed to be doing the same too. Perhaps he had seen the effects of the skills. Prefect was confused at the sudden change of weather and looked at the three of us, hoping for answers.

'Are you crazy? Are you trying to raze Henesys to the ground?' I tapped at Mir's head with the umbrella. 'You can use other skills but that one.'

Mir had temporarily forgotten that we were not in the fields and lower its head. 'Sorry, Master.' The woman who was shocked at our playfulness stomped our way and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to use long-range magic in a town. Elwin and Prefect giggled behind me as I maintained an apologetic smile at her while my staff was still on its forehead. Then, when satisfied, the pizza deliveryman had arrived with piping hot pizza as she headed back to her cottage. I remembered earlier that today I was lectured by two people, as well. I sighed as I took All-cure Potion to remove Killer Wings status.

We left a few slices of pizza for Lily, but she didn't seem to come back after nine o'clock. Mir and Elwin peered through my shoulders as I read the manga brought from Animanga District, leaning against the couch. 'Ugh, is it left to right, or right to left?' Elwin muttered, confused.

'Is it that good to read?' Prefect frowned as he saw us huddling together after his bath. 'You guys looked so absorbed into it.'

'It's not bad,' I replied. 'Also, it's right to left, Elwin.'

'Oh, I've been reading it wrong too, then,' Mir uttered, embarrassed.

'What were you reading, then?' I frowned at it.

After some time later, both Elwin and Mir fell asleep beside me, with Elwin leaning on my left shoulder. I knew that if I were to move then, the both of them would be jolted awake. I was tired as well, so I closed the book gently and looked up to the ceiling. Lily didn't seem to come back to sleep, either. I hoped that she wouldn't overdo herself in searching for the source of Dusts and Troublemakers. Ah, now that I think of it, I had forgotten to tell her my theory again. Oh well, she should be able to find it sooner or later.

I couldn't remember when I had completely closed my eyes, but I when I opened them, it was already dawn. Someone covered the three of us with one large blanket. I could faintly smell the scent of waffles in the house. I let out a yawn and shifted carefully out of the huddle so they wouldn't be awake, placing the manga on the television stand. I dragged my body towards the smell of food, which was from the kitchen.

Lily noticed me standing at the entrance. 'Good morning,' she smiled at me. She wore a white apron while removing the waffle from the round waffle maker. 'How was your sleep?'

'Good, I guess. Did you find anything from the items?'

'Not yet. I'll tell you when the results are out. Would you help me bring these waffles out?' She pointed at the three plates beside the waffle maker, with one stacked up high like pancakes. I assumed that it was for Mir. I walked forward and helped her out to bring them out to the dinner table. As I waited for the last one, my mind was fresher than before.

'Thanks for the blanket.'

She froze for a moment. 'You noticed it?'

'Prefect went to sleep before I passed out. There wouldn't be anyone else but you who would've encountered us like that.'

Lily grinned while placing the last waffle onto the plate. 'Now, hurry up and eat before you're late to school.'

'Not yet.' I went to the fridge and took out some bacon strips I had prepared. She was scowling at me, perhaps thinking that waffles weren't enough for me to eat. 'Mir wouldn't eat the waffles without meat. It's that picky.' After defrosting them with magic, I started frying them on a pan. Lily shook her head and left me alone in the kitchen with butter and maple syrup. When they were done, I realized Mir was waiting patiently by the dining table with Lily telling it to eat the waffles.

As Mir was gobbling down the pile waffle, I applied the illusion potion onto its skin. Prefect was coming down the stairs in his sleep wear and was almost shocked to death to find a floating waffle suddenly disappear without a trace. 'What the heck? Did you guys see that? A floating waffle – and it's gone!' he said. Lily and I chuckled at his response.

'The illusion potion is active on Mir. It's not some sort of black magic,' I told him. He went ahead and touched Mir to see if I was lying.

I changed my clothes to the Dragon Tail Mage Robe fused with the black school uniform and headed out to school with my staff. Before reaching the bridge, the phone rang. It was Cygnus.

'Ho ho ho, hi Evan. Good morning. Are you getting used to this new city?' she asked. She sounded rather cheerful today.

'No, not yet.'

'The city is still unfamiliar to you. Oh, that's not good.' Then, as if she was trying to show off, she said, 'Hmph, as the director of Shinsoo International School, I feel responsible.' What for? I frowned to the phone. 'I should show you around the city. Meet me at the front gate after school today.'

'But Cygnus…' I wanted to ask why, but she had already hung up the phone. Looks like we're going, huh. I should tell Lily and Elwin that I would be back home late today, too. I shrugged and crossed the bridge towards the school. Nothing seemed to have happened today. I kept an eye about the Dusts that may be appearing, but as Lily had mentioned, they seemed to shriek in fear when sunlight reaches them. Arkarium called me to answer a biology question on the board because I was looking around, amused at the small Dusts' reaction.

During lunch break I found Elwin wandering at the entrance. After confirming there weren't anyone around, I squatted down in front of him. 'What's up?' he asked.

'I might be home late. Tell Lily about this so she wouldn't worry too much about me.'

He cocked his head. 'Tell her yourself, then.'

'I don't know where she is. She could be anywhere.'

He sighed. 'Fine. I'll be sure to tell her about it.'

'Thanks,' I smiled and entered the building once more. I had lunch with Francis afterwards. I didn't see any of the Chief Cygnus Knights around the cafeteria as well. Probably the male chiefs were hanging around the rooftop again. I haven't met the remaining two. Francis told me more about anime again. I received a few messages in the middle of the meal and excused myself to see them. Elwin texted, "What, you guys gonna hang after school? Take me with you too!" It was followed by Lily's "You can ignore everything that Elwin says, Evan." I grinned at the sibling's responses. Afterwards we entered class and bore the English class from Chief Stan.

It seemed that there were more classes today. Finally it had ended. I guess Prefect was somewhat accurate about his world being a bore. I salute those who managed to keep up their spirits into these classes every day. Francis called me out again. 'My friend, how'd you like to join me for an Otaku meeting today? I know you have nothing to do after school,' he asked with a smile. I guess he was happy that I hung out with him yesterday.

'Not today. I'm meeting Cygnus,' I replied briefly while packing my bag.

His face darkened in horror. 'What, Cygnus? Are you crazy?' he raised his voice so loudly that the other classmates looked at us, then they started whispering towards each other. I don't have a good feeling about this and scowled at Francis. He faked a cough, then whispered, 'That girl… I mean, Miss Cygnus belongs to a completely different world!'

'She was the one to call me out though…' I got up from my seat. 'See you, Francis.'

He was even more surprised now that I said that. Bully seemed to be eyeing at me from the conversation. Perhaps he was targeting Cygnus with the rumor. But what for? I shook my head and headed towards the front gate as promised. I checked my phone for any messages before I headed there. The latest message was from Cygnus, "Today is going to be so much fun! I'll be waiting by the front gate." Looks like the plan wouldn't change. Cygnus is too happy for me to reject. I sighed while leaving the school.

 _Look, Master! Cygnus's bodyguards are here! They seemed to be looking for someone though…_ Mir said through telepathy. It was right. They seemed to be eyeing at the entrance, fidgeting. Chauffeur called me over when he noticed me coming out of the class.

'Hey you! Have you seen Miss Cygnus?' he asked in a hurry. I shook my head. Wasn't she supposed to be here? Chauffeur looked restless. 'Hm… This isn't good. School is over, but she's not in school. Where is she? She has an important dinner appointment today,' he muttered, then he scowled while saying, 'You're suspicious. You'd better not have anything to do with her disappearing on me.'

I wasn't at fault. At least, not yet since I haven't seen her at all. I left the gates and called Cygnus to find her whereabouts. The call linked. 'Hello?'

'Hello? Evan?' she whispered. 'Shush, just listen. The Chauffeur is watching the front gate like a hawk, so I left through the rear gate.' But why? Does she wanted to show me the town so badly? 'I'll be waiting outside of the school. Come quickly.' Then she hung up. I peered at Chauffeur over my shoulders. He was still glaring at me. I acted nothing happened and looked around the outside school. Around the corner was Cygnus. She seemed happy when I approached her.

'Evan, here, here!' she gestured towards me.

'You know that they're looking for you, right?' I asked. 'They seemed concern.'

'I don't care. I've decided to spend my time today on showing you around the city, Evan,' she beamed. Looks like she had made her mind up. I sighed. The empress is naïve yet someone you cannot ignore, after all. After hearing my sigh, she looked slightly dejected. 'Um, don't you want this? Am I forcing this on you? I just want to show you around the city, Evan,' she looked at me with puppy eyes. Ugh. 'Don't you want me to?'

I should play along. She was quite excited of this earlier, too. 'It's going to be fun. Let's go,' I grinned. The smile returned to her face.

'Wonderful! Then let's go to the most popular rice cake truck among our students!' Her eyes seemed to glimmer with excitement as she pointed at the truck parked across the street of Big Headger's shop.

'But before that…' I looked towards the school. I could hear the engine starting from inside. She tilted her head to the right, confused. 'Chauffeur seems to think you're out school now. They might see you when they drove past.'

'Oh…' Cygnus looked worried. 'What should we do?'

I wonder if Mir standing beside her would cover her up. The illusion potion is designed to cover Mir up by using its surroundings. Mir understood and stood by her as I looked over my shoulders, waiting for the car to drive past us. I saw Chauffeur glancing at me before the car left my vision. I sighed in relief, though I wasn't sure if it was pure luck or Mir had helped me out on it. Thank you, Mir. It flapped its wings in excitement, creating a small gust of wind. 'Oh, what a weird wind,' Cygnus said when it was over.

'Shall we go, then?' I asked, smiling. She nodded with an impeccable smile and followed after me. We crossed the road when the road was clear. I finally saw Seoul's Oz and Irena, who stood beside the truck Cygnus was talking about earlier. They noticed her behind me.

'It's Cygnus,' Oz said while waving at her with a cheerful grin.

'I never thought I'd see Cygnus in a place like this,' Irena muttered and nodded at me, acknowledging my presence.

'Heh heh,' Cygnus tittered. 'Is this truck really famous for rice cake skewers? I've heard they're almost addictive.'

'You bet!' Oz quickly replied. 'Oh, who's this beside you by the way?'

'He's a new transfer student, Evan. I'm showing him the city today,' Cygnus smiled. Irena and Oz quickly toss me a look. I know what they're thinking about. I shook my head. This isn't a date.

Oz smiled. 'I'm Oz, a second grader and the president of the Mystery Novel Club. Nice to meet you, Evan.'

'Likewise,' I smiled at her.

'My name is Irena. A third grader and the captain of the Archery Club.' Irena looked at me up and down. 'You seemed to have potential for archery. Do you want to try it out?' Another recruitment? I shook my head. I have no DEX for this. I'm a pure mage and never intended to stray away from that.

'By the way, Cygnus,' Oz hugged Cygnus's hand. 'We forgot to bring our wallet. Please?' She whined, giving her the puppy look. Irena was in a conflict to either laugh or sigh at her attitude and an awkward smile was formed on her face.

'Oh, don't worry. I was going to buy some rice cake skewers for ourselves,' she nodded at me. 'I'll buy yours as well.'

'Really? Hurray!' Oz threw her hands up in happiness.

'You're so generous,' Irena said gratefully.

The one who was the happiest was the granny who was the owner of the store. Her name was coincidentally "Granny" too. Her face was familiar, but I couldn't put a ring on where I have last seen her in Maple World. Cygnus ordered four rice cake skewers from her. 'Ho ho ho, there's one for each of you!' she said after they were done and handed them to us. Oz was excited upon receiving it. Then it was time to pay.

Cygnus asked, 'Ma'am, do you accept personal checks?'

Granny's smile was quickly replaced by a scowl. 'Are you kidding me?!'

They both looked at each other in silence. Looks like negotiations had failed. Oz and Irena who had took a bite on the rice cake skewers exchanged glances. They don't have money to pay them. Irena sighed after swallowing one of the red rice cakes. 'Do any of us have any cash?'

It seemed like I'm the only one who have them. I approached Granny. 'How much is it?' I asked.

'3,080 mesos.' She looked at me. I produced the amount of mesos she mentioned and placed it on the counter.

'Whoa, transfer student, you're buying? You're so cool!' Oz praised. I don't think I deserve that, so I only smiled back at her.

'Thank you!' Irena replied.

Cygnus beamed at me. 'Thank you, Evan.' Then she proceeded to take a bite of the rice cake. I did too. It's spicy! I almost felt like spewing fire. 'Oh, it's so delicious! I wonder what else everyone is eating without telling me…' I glanced at Cygnus while fanning my tongue and the other two laughing at me. Rather than bringing me out, I think Cygnus wanted to explore the city alone without Chauffeur or her bodyguards around like a normal student. The rich people in this world lived in a sad state.

'Speaking of which, you eat lunch alone in your office, don't you?' Irena asked Cygnus after finishing her rice cake skewer. 'Maybe you should join us for lunch next time.'

'Good! We'll have lunch tomorrow then!' Cygnus agreed without a second thought. I was somewhat glad that she managed to fit with the people around her age. I don't think I've ever seen her in a classroom, too.

Irena then turned to me. 'Transfer student, we've never met before, and yet I've mooched off you today. I'll buy next time.' I don't understand the word "mooched off", but judging from the context it probably meant that she ripped off me for food.

'It's okay. I don't really mind.' I haven't used my pile of mesos for a while now. Spending them on cheap stuff like this is nothing.

'No, I insist,' Irena said sharply. Looks like she wouldn't want me to say no again. I nodded in acknowledgement.

Oz came closer. 'Take our phone numbers.' And we began exchanging phone numbers with each other. 'By the way, why are you two together? Ooo, are you an item?' Oz smirked at me. I frowned at her wording. An item? What does she meant by it? We're clearly humans, isn't it?

'Ha ha, I was just showing Evan around the city,' Cygnus explained again while she toss the stick into the prepared rubbish bin nearby.

'To me, it looks like the other way around,' Irena teased while placing one of her hand on her hips.

Cygnus whined at her. 'No, I'm really am the guide today.' Irena grinned.

'If you're looking for something fun, check the other side of the overpass. There's a tarot card fortune teller and I've heard the readings are really good,' Oz pointed at the bridge. 'And maybe… heh heh…' she tossed a look at me. I shook my head again. The both of us weren't like that.

'Really? Thank you, Oz!' Cygnus then turned to look at me. 'Evan, let's move across the overpass!' I don't have the strength to reject the empress's excitement, so I merely nodded in response and followed after her as she headed towards the bridge. She stopped halfway crossing the bridge, looking at the scenery at one side in awe. I guess she haven't really seen this. She noticed me smiling at her and her face turned red from embarrassment. Quickly she turned her head away and headed to the so-called fortuneteller.

I had a feeling that I would be seeing Cassandra. At the other side of the overpass was a purple tent at the opposite direction of Prefect's house. I've seen it many times, but never really paid attention towards it. In front of the tent stood student president Nineheart who was reading a book. When he saw Cygnus approaching him, he was like a puppy who was excited to see his owner, though he quickly put on a façade to look professional.

'Miss Cygnus,' he nodded at her. 'Transfer student.' He narrowed his eyes at me. It seems like he's still watching me. 'What an odd couple! What brings you to this place?' he put on a smile so Cygnus wouldn't notice.

'Oz said that there's a good tarot fortuneteller here, so we came to visit,' Cygnus responded with a smile.

'How about you? You don't seem to be someone who would like to get fortune readings,' I grinned.

'Me? Nothing,' Nineheart smiled back. 'I've recently developed an academic interest in astrology.' I'm betting on the fact that he is in love in Cygnus. He didn't seemed to like my presence very well.

 _Master, I see sparks coming out from the gaze of the two of you…_

He then began to introduce about the tent. 'This place seemed to be specialized in reading daily horoscopes and love or friendship compatibility, but I don't think they're believable.' I smirked. That's a lie. I'm betting on it.

'Love compatibility!' Cygnus squealed in excitement. Do all women here like to test their love compatibility? 'That sounds like fun! Evan, how'd you like to check your love compatibility with me?' I felt a death glare on me when she said that. Maybe my face seemed awkward, so she quickly added, 'I don't mean it seriously. I just think it'll be fun!'

'Well…' I have to pick my words carefully. One misstep would make Nineheart hate me forever. But either way, I'd die even if I pick "yes" or "no". 'Sure,' I slurred.

'Alright, let's get in!' she said cheerfully as she marched into the purple tent. I glanced at Nineheart. He seemed unfazed by it, but I am certain that he was the one who gave out bloodlust.

Cygnus was nervous to enter the tent for some reasons, so I headed in first. As expected, it was Cassandra who sat across me. She looked surprised. 'Aren't you a student from Shinsoo International School?' I asked, judging by her uniform.

'Shush, I'm working part-time. You can't tell the teachers…' she trailed off. Cygnus had entered and sat on the stool beside me. 'You came with Miss Cygnus?! What should I do?' Cassandra started to panic.

'Don't worry. I won't tell the teachers,' Cygnus assured her. 'By the way, could you read the compatibility between me and Evan?'

I felt nervous. Nineheart may kill me for this.

 _Master, he's eavesdropping on the three of you._

I had a feeling.

'Originally I read daily horoscopes only once a day, but if you want, I'll specifically read compatibility between you two,' Cassandra said as she shuffled a deck of cards and slid the deck on the table, arranging the cards neatly. Cygnus and I looked at her actions in awe. 'Miss Cygnus, will you please pick three cards out of these?'

'Okay.' I could tell she was nervous. She picked a random card from both left and right side, and one from the center of the cards, then handed them to Cassandra. She then held the three cards in front of me.

'Now, Evan, pick a card among these three.'

I picked the first card from the right and handed it to her. Cassandra looked at the card, amused. 'Hmm, how curious!' she then looked at the both of us. 'You two had ties to each other somewhere else in the past life. Cygnus was an empress, and you, Evan, you're a warrior in her world.' I was surprised. It was a true story from the Maple World! Did Cassandra stopped reading the glass orb and started tarot reading in this world instead? She continued, 'You two shared a special connection that you've found each other again in this life. I don't have to read further. You're perfect for each other!'

 _Master... Nineheart… he had a scary look on his face!_

Great job, Cassandra. You have made me the enemy of the student president for me. Cygnus's eyes brightened up. 'Oh, how did you know? I dreamt of that a while ago!' She turned towards me. 'Did you hear that, Evan? She said we're perfect for each other!' She sounded like a child who had just gotten a candy from a candy store. I nodded at her, smiling. Excitedly, she continued, 'I was right about you, Evan. You're the fateful…' she slapped her mouth once again. I raised an eyebrow. She shook her head in embarrassment. 'Ah, never mind. Please disregard what I just said, ho ho ho.' She ran out of the tent while covering her face. She must be saying about the "Fateful Transfer Student" rumor. I don't understand what it was.

I thanked Cassandra. Before leaving, she was grinning at me. 'Lucky bastard,' she said. 'Take care of her, will you?'

I gave her a smile in disbelief of her words. 'What are you saying? There's no way… right?'

She merely grinned at me. Nineheart must be really angry right now. Cygnus had a permanent smile on her face from the fortune telling. I could tell she was really excited about it. I wonder if all girls are the same. While the first sentence was accurate, I doubted we will ended up together. I won't be staying for long in Seoul, anyway.

Nineheart looked composed. 'By the way, what are you two doing in here?' he asked with his usual smile.

'I've been showing Evan around the school.' Then, Cygnus tugged at my sleeves. 'Evan, let's take a bus and go to the suburbs.'

'Okay.' The empress is sure a handful.

'Miss Cygnus, have you taken a bus before?' Nineheart asked in concern.

'Nineheart, I'm not a child. I know how to take a bus. Evan, let's go.' Then, leaving Nineheart behind, we crossed the overpass towards the bus stop. The rice cake skewer truck was about to leave as well. There exist a portal at the bus stop. Upon stepping inside, it teleports us into a bus. Another portal is in a bus which can miraculously transport one person for one place to another. It is truly a work of art. What is Prefect saying? His own world is quite magical to begin with! Somehow Mir was miraculously teleported into the bus as well as I felt its breathing down my neck.

'This is what the inside of a bus looks like. Amazing!' I was too absorbed on analyzing the portal theory of this mysterious bus that I forgot Cygnus was around. From how she said it, I assumed that the only transport she had ever ridden was that limo with Chauffeur.

Time to time the bus stopped for a moment before moving, perhaps to the several destinations the bus could go. On the first stop, Cygnus shrieked as inertia pushed her backwards towards the end of the bus. I held on to the poles on the bus to prevent such energy to overcome my balance. When it started moving again, Cygnus attempted to maintain her balance by moving forward, almost bumping into me. She gave me a weak smile in return of her awkwardness. Then the bus stopped again. Her actions repeated, but this time when the bus moved forward, she bumped into me. 'Are you alright?' I asked, wondering why she isn't taking a seat.

'Oh, this is so fun! Is riding a rollercoaster as thrilling as riding a bus? I've never ridden a rollercoaster before,' she asked, her eyes sparkled.

The rollercoaster I've ridden was from Fantasy Theme Park and it was a thrill for Mir as it was having fun keeping up with the ride beside me. It was good times until he landed on the ground and threw up all over me. It was a horrible memory. 'No, they're different. Why don't you take a seat? You don't need to stand.'

'Oh, I thought I have to reserve a seat beforehand. Amazing!' she said as she sat at the nearby seat. I can't help but pity the rich of this world who don't get to experience such a common thing. I guess it would be like a culture difference of both rich and the poor of this world.

Cygnus wanted to visit the fountain park, so we entered the portal and exited at the park. Elwin in puppy form was waiting for us by the bus stop. 'Oh, what a cute puppy!' she said as she squatted down to pet Elwin. He barked in return, acting like a normal dog and brushed himself at Cygnus's legs. Cygnus shrieked in return, followed by a laugh. 'Ha ha, you're tickling me. Stop rubbing against me, doggie.'

I wonder what Elwin's plan is. Although he was doing something perverted, he seemed to be glancing at me while he does so. I watched as Elwin finally stopped after a minute. 'I was sloppy, wasn't I? I'm sorry. It was my first time eating rice skewers or take a bus,' she said, embarrassed while petting Elwin. 'And to go city on foot. Showing you around the city was just an excuse to spend time with you, Evan. My life is caged, and I rarely have a chance for freedom.' To use such a word was "cage" sounds horrible. I nodded quietly. She then looked at me in the eye. 'Thank you so much for today, Evan.'

'It's my pleasure, Cygnus.'

There was a sound of chains echoing in the park. Cygnus was alarmed by it. 'Oh, I think I've heard something coming from over there,' she pointed at the other side of the park. 'What do you think it is?'

Elwin started barking at her, then licked at Cygnus's hand. I know it was supposed to be a distraction, but isn't that a little too much? Cygnus merely laughed, not knowing that it was a teenager in disguise. 'Ha ha, you're tickling me, doggie. Stop licking me, doggie,' she spoke to the dog.

'Miss Cygnus!' Chauffeur's voice called from behind. I turned around to find Chauffeur and two Agent Os running towards us. 'Thank god, you're here.'

'Uh oh,' Cygnus whispered. 'We've been found.'

Chauffeur glared at me, then his expression changed to worry when he met Cygnus's face. 'Miss Cygnus, you cannot disappear on me like this. I can't afford to lose my job!'

Dolefully, she sighed. I could see tears forming around her eyes. 'All right. I have to go now. Evan, see you later,' she muttered as she waved good-bye. I waved back while she walked towards the limo parked near the bus stop. Elwin barked at her a few more times, as if he was saddened that she left.

When the car drove away, I crossed my hands. 'What's going on now?'

'Ah, what a beautiful lady, don't you think?' Elwin sounded like he was love-struck.

Playfully, I pulled a prank. 'Pervert! I'll call the cops!' I yelled.

Elwin looked around in fear, then scowled at me. 'Shh! What if anyone hears that?' he whispered timidly. 'You're going to blow our covers! I told you to keep your presence low!'

I grinned. 'Surely there isn't anyone around –'

I spoke too soon, for there were sounds of high heels clacking down the street and a woman in white shirt with black tie and black skirt turned into Fountain Park. My face darkened. It was the policewoman I often see two buildings away from Prefect's House. Athena Pierce, the bowman instructor of Maple World. All bowmen have Sharp Eyes, and I don't think she will be less keen than her counterpart in Maple World. Shit.

'I was patrolling near the park when I heard you yell. Where did that pervert go?' She asked as she gathered her breath in front of me. I realized she have elf ears in here, too. Surprise that no one had said a thing about it if she's a policewoman. I glanced at Elwin. He had a blank look, probably didn't know what to do either. Time to put my lying skills on the act.

I pointed to the inside of the playground, where bushes and trees were grown in bundles. 'There! He ran there!'

She turned towards the direction and frowned. Of course, she can't see anyone because the accused was in a form of a dog. She looked at me. 'I need to ask you a few things about the pervert. Are you willing to cooperate?'

Do I have a choice? I nodded, faking a sniff. She asked about the appearance of the pervert. I described Bully's Troublemaker and made the monster as humanly as possible while maintaining a victim's expression. She asked where he went. I told her the same thing as before. She repeated her questions. Looks like I wasn't convincing enough.

Ten minutes later, she sighed. 'So, the person had a blue spiked cap, wore dark clothes, a plaster on his face, and looked sinister.' I nodded. 'And he ran into the bushes as soon as heard me coming over in ten seconds.'

'He must've ducked down when he saw you, then proceeded to crawl his way out as you interrogated me.' She didn't seem convinced. 'I'm telling you the truth!'

'Right.'

'Just because I'm a man doesn't mean I can't be molested by someone else, right?' I shed crocodile tears and covered my face with both of my hands. 'What am I supposed to say the others if they ever learn about this?'

I could hear her shifting her weight onto another leg. 'Sorry. I haven't seen you around, so you must be new here.' She patted my back. I proceeded to fake a cry for a moment before lifting my head up. 'Here, this is my number. Call me if anything happens.' She gave me a card.

I sniffed and took her number. Apparently Athena Pierce is called Helena here. She stayed with me for a brief moment until I remained calm. Then she left me alone in the park. After her disappearance, I waited for a few more minutes before letting out a sigh. 'I hope that worked.'

'Nice act. I doubt so, though. If you haven't yelled, we wouldn't be in this situation,' Elwin scowled.

'It was supposed to be a prank…' I muttered. I've learnt my lesson.


	7. Chapter 6 (FS Chapter 1)

'By the way, where were we?' I asked Elwin. I had forgotten after experiencing the interrogation by Athena Pierce.

'Dust Zone. You know, the portals I've created with my genius skills?'

'So you gave those portals a name now?' I began stretching before a fight. The conversation between Athena – I mean, Helena, was a stressful situation.

'Yeah. They're filled with Dusts, and it's a zone, so I called it Dust Zone! Pretty neat, right?' Elwin stood proudly before me.

'I guess. I'll be back.'

'By the way, ninety should suffice. Go for it, Evan!' he cheered. I nodded and headed towards the portal he mentioned.

'Mir, before we start annihilating these monsters, I want you to make a deal with me,' I told Mir right after we entered the portal.

'What is it?'

'I'm not happy at the fact that you didn't leave a single monster for me the last time we entered a portal,' I said. 'So, we're going to split the map. You take the top platform, and I take the bottom one. Deal?'

'Hey! The bottom one has more Dust spawns than the top!' Mir protested.

'We'll take turns. This should be fine, right?' I grinned at it. Mir nodded, then we began our quests on destroying the Dusts. We came out after two minutes had passed. Elwin was shocked that we came out faster than before.

'What in the name of God did you do this time? Even Dark Fog has a cooldown. Surely you can't just kill ninety of them in such a short time!' Elwin said in disbelief. 'The last time took you about five minutes!'

'I was researching about the monster's attacks, so that took a little longer. It's the same type of Dusts inside the Zone, so there's no need to research about it,' I replied, resting the umbrella on my shoulder.

'Well, good job. By the way, I'm afraid someone has his eyes on Cygnus,' he sat on the ground. I raised an eyebrow. He continued, 'You know, dogs have superior hearing, and sometimes when I'm at school, I can hear some strange voice.'

'Such as?' I squatted down in front of him.

'It said, "Cygnus, you bad girl. Soon you'll be sorry… ho ho ho!".' Elwin mimicked the tone of the voice. It sounded like some woman having a grudge against Cygnus. 'Cygnus might have something to do with the growing number of Dusts in school. We should look out on her.'

'Right,' I nodded. 'Shall we go home, then? Our work here is done.'

'Yeah… I'm hungry. Why don't you cook when we return?' Elwin went ahead towards the bus stop. 'Being a dog is a tough job, you know.'

I laughed. 'Ask Lily about it. She might be generous enough to help you out.'

'No way. Lily's never generous.'

'Ask her nicely, and it may change.' I laughed.

Both of us walked back side by side. Several residence around were whispering about how good the dog was trained. I giggled when I heard them. Elwin growled at me several times. He let me into the bathroom first when we returned since I was starting to stink after not taking a bath for two days in a row. Mir didn't like standing outside alone, so it cramped into the bathroom with me. I took the chance to bath it as well. By the time I was out wearing my old mage robe produced from my bag, Elwin was standing outside with an impatient look on his face.

'Do you seriously need to take half an hour for a shower?' he asked. 'Surely you can't be that dirty.' I stepped aside to let Mir out of the shower first. 'Oh.' Elwin said nothing afterwards.

'Ah, don't prepare dinner for me today. I'll be going somewhere tonight,' I told Elwin before he entered the bathroom.

'In Seoul?' he asked.

I shook my head. 'In Maple World. It's a special day for me today.' Elwin didn't question much and went into shower. Mir and I left the house, slipping past Prefect who was absorbed into reading the manga that I left the day before. Rina was about to enter her house when she saw us leaving.

'Hello DragonGod and Mir. Long time no see,' she smiled. It seemed that she remembered me. I smiled at her. 'Where are you going?' she asked when I headed towards the portal lead to the Hill North of Henesys.

'Just a little stroll.'

Mir spoke after we entered the portal. 'We'll be visiting _him_ after this, right?'

'Yes. It should be a quick visit.'

Following the platforms, the both of us got to the second portal leading towards the Farm Entrance, just below Suspicious Hills. I avoided the cheerful Orange Mushrooms in ease to reach there. Then I rode on Mir and glided down to the bottom left portal, walking past the angry Ribbon Pigs, Pigs, and Stumps to reach my destination. It was night when I reached the farmhouse five maps away. Bull Dog was munching down dog food in its bowl, half of its body inside the mushroom doghouse with a bone above the hole. All Evans are naturally liked by Bull Dog, so when it noticed me, it started barking to greet me.

'Long time no see, Bull Dog,' I said as I petted the dog. It had grown larger the last time I've seen it, its fur became a darker shade of brown. Mir stroked Bull Dog with its head. Funny to think how three years ago, the dog was afraid of Mir's fully-grown self when I reached level 160.

'Who's there?' A voice came from the house further into the map. Utah came out from the house, with Anna and Gustav standing at the entrance in wary of thieves. I stood up and faced Utah. He looked slightly disappointed when he saw me, but he forced a smile. 'Welcome back.'

'Looks like the real Evan never came back.' Utah had grown slightly taller than the last time I saw him, but he is still shorter than I am. He nodded in disappointment. The real Evan must be fighting against the Black Mage and the commander clones along with the real heroes. The rest of those who bear the Evan class were mere doppelganger of him. 'Don't look so sad. He might come back the next day.'

Utah grinned. 'You said the same thing every time you come back. Have you eaten dinner? It was about time, so mom cooked up a storm for you.'

Mir cheered. 'Dinner!' it cried, making Utah flinched backwards.

'Ahh! What's that?!' he yelped and ran behind me.

Mir flew towards the entrance, landing before the door and greeted Anna and Gustav. They seemed rather happy to see it in high spirits. 'Did that _thing_ grow again?' Utah asked warily. 'It was bigger than before!'

I laughed. 'Mir's still growing. Its father was the size of a small island.'

'What?! Don't bring it here when it does!'

'I can't. Mir follows me everywhere.'

'You're a magician class, right? Do something about it! Ask Grendel the Really Old for some new magic tricks to shrink it down!' Utah came out from the back of me and pointed at the dragon. 'It'll squash the whole farm with that size you said!'

I patted his shoulder. 'I'll do something when that day comes,' I grinned and walked towards the house. 'Maybe.' I added after a distance away.

'You promised!' Utah picked up his pace and walked beside me.

I had dinner with Gustav and Anna. They treated me like their own kid, but I know deep down they miss their real child. I don't know what the real Evan was doing for so long, and Evan class characters cannot meet with the real Evan as it interferes with the existence of the two of the same individual. Mir was blessed with heaps of meat, and Bull Dog helped itself with some of the meat given at its blind spot. Throughout the meal, they asked about my situations and events, to which I would explain in detail to prevent them from getting bored. Afterwards, Utah invited me to have a talk outside the house while they clean the dishes.

'What is it?' I asked as the both of us stepped outside. Mir lifted its head upon hearing our steps. It was lying beside the empty plate. Bull Dog had licked the plate spotless, and still licking it.

'It's about the farm.' He paused briefly before continuing. 'While I have taken over dad's farm, I can't help but worry. You do remember that I have a weak heart, right?'

'Yeah.'

'I know you only come back on the day you were born into this world, but if it wasn't too much of a hassle, I would like you to take over the farm instead.' Utah turned around. 'I haven't heard of my younger brother for a long time, and your presence somehow replaced him instead.' He chuckled. 'I guess I'm somewhat your big brother, huh.'

'I cannot replace the real Evan. I'm a mere doppelganger of him. He should be a better option than I am.'

'I know. I know that. One day, if I did go away forever, I would like you to inherit it instead. The other Evans don't visit their old home after they've gone on an adventure. Some of them would stay at their new homes, not leaving it, even for an adventure. Some were too fixed on the bosses. Only you.'

I remained silent. This had become such a serious talk. I wasn't expecting Utah to think of me like this. I merely came back as it was a commemorative event solely for myself to be born in this world. I glanced at Mir. It is our homeland, too. I first found Mir in a forest not too far away from here. Although all the events happened around the farmhouse were a set destiny that all Evans required pass through, I feel like it was something I should do – to return here once a while. But what Utah said was for the real Evan to do. I could never replace the original, after all.

'DragonGod?' Utah asked, breaking my train of thoughts.

'I'm honored, but I have to refuse,' I said, smiling while looking away from him. 'Ah, but when I'm not adventuring, I _might_ come back to check the farm. You'll never know what Maple World would prepare for me for another adventure. If you let me take care of it, it would be wasteland in no time.'

'But-'

'Master,' Mir spoke, backing me up to get out of the situation. 'It's time.'

'Right.' I nodded at Mir. 'I should get going. See you next time, Utah.'

'DragonGod…'

'So, before I next appear, you should stay alive, right?' I patted his shoulder. 'It is yours now to take care. I still have a journey to go through, and you too. Don't say such sad things, alright?'

He sighed. 'How long will it be?'

I shrugged. 'I don't know. I'll come back frequently.'

'You promise?'

'Maybe.'

'Why, you…' he spoke through his gritted teeth, scowling. I laughed and waved at him as I exited the farm with Mir without looking back.

When we reached the farm entrance, Mir spoke. 'I wonder why the real Evan never returned home.'

'No idea. I'm not him, and I can never be him. Let's go to Lith Harbor. We're visiting your father now.'

'Right.'

We moved quickly passing through the portals towards the Six Pathway Crossway and climbed the tree in the middle of the map to Pantheon's portal located close to the top. Using it, we teleported to Lith Harbor. I had to knock on several doors to find Olaf. 'Are you crazy? You're going to the island at this time of the day?' he scowled as he downed a mug of beer in the bar of Lith Harbor. Sitting beside him was John who used to ask me to get flowers from Sleepywood Jump Quests. 'The waves are exceptionally big at night, and you know it.'

'You told me I could ask you for a ride at any time,' I looked at him pleadingly. 'Please?'

He glanced at Mir behind me, then let out a sigh. 'Fine, but I'm charging extra for this.'

'Sure.' Mir and I smiled at each other upon hearing his agreement.

It took half an hour to reach our destination rather than the usual 20 minutes due to the harsh waves. Olaf brought some beers along to keep himself awake while we enter the cave at the far end of the island. Afrien's eyes slowly opened as both of us entered Cave of Silence. _What brings you here, young one?_ It spoke to me through telepathy. Mir approached it as I stood by the entrance. Although it seemed to me that the both of them were only gazing at each other in the eye, they were communicating through their souls. It went on for several minutes before Mir turned around after satisfied with the exchange of information. We returned to Elwin's house before midnight.

Elwin who dozed off on the couch woke up at the sound of the door. 'Oh, you're back…' he yawned. 'Where did you go?'

'Just taking a stroll,' I replied.

'That sure is a long stroll. Hurry up and take a rest then.'

The next day flew by in a blink of an eye. I was still thinking about what Utah said the whole time. I felt guilty for making a promise that I may or may not fulfill in the future, and the fact that I made the promise while the real Evan is still wandering around. Either way, I don't think there's any way for me to change it. I couldn't even try to search for the real Evan as we can never exist together in one place. That was how the world is set up as.

I packed up my bags and was ready to leave after the class was over when someone texted me. It was Oz. "Have you heard the rumor? It's a really weird rumor. Gather everyone on the rooftop for gossiping!" I haven't heard any rumor, but I don't have anything to do afterwards. It wouldn't hurt to check. Then Nineheart called me.

I frowned. What does he want with me? I picked up the call reluctantly. 'Evan, this is urgent. I not sure if you can be helpful, but I need any help I get,' he blurted out those words.

'Calm down. Is it about Cygnus?' This is the first time I found Seoul's Nineheart being nervous.

'We'll talk when we meet at the rooftop. Come _now_.' Then he hung up. I sighed. I couldn't have my thoughts split right now. I shook my head and got out of the classroom.

 _Master, where are you going?_ Mir asked when I ran up the stairs instead of stepping out of the door.

Nineheart requested me to be at the rooftop. I couldn't see it, but Mir probably got up from the ground and followed me as there was a sudden gust of wind which made some students gasped. Squeezing through the seniors walking down the sole flight of stairs that linked all floors together, I made my way towards the rooftop. Opening the door, I was greeted by the sight of all Chief Cygnus Knight's presence, with Nineheart standing in front of them.

As I approached them, Nineheart began his talk. 'Everyone, thank you for coming. Let me explain why we're here. We've gathered because of the new rumor about the "Fateful Transfer Student".'

It's that thing again. I still didn't understand it as everyone who seemed to walk past me would talk about how fearsome I was on my first day. Seems like I would be getting my answer soon. 'What new rumor?" Irena asked.

'"You're all mistaken. The Fateful Transfer Student has thick lips. The sole heiress to Shinsoo Group must kiss him, or the school will fall."' That was quite specific for a rumor. It must be tied with the woman that had a grudge with Cygnus.

'That's too specific for a rumor,' Irena agreed with my thoughts as she let out a sigh.

Hawkeye nodded. 'I agree. And that schmuck is the only transfer student that has thick lips.'

'You mean that ogre we met on the rooftop?' Eckhart asked him. Hawkeye nodded.

'Do you think he spread the rumors about the transfer student to draw attention to him?' Mihile raised his hand and asked.

'I think it's more than just drawing attention. He has a hidden agenda.' Nineheart bit his lower lip. He paused briefly, and then turned his attention to me. 'Evan, I need the information about the other transfer student. Could you secure the student records?'

'Aren't you the student president?' I frowned. 'Surely you have all the details about everyone. Plus, I'm only a normal student.'

'Of course, the student records are off limits to us students,' he smirked. Well, not off limits to him though. 'In other words, this is a covert mission and requires sticky fingers. This shouldn't be too difficult for you, should it?'

The others casted their gaze on me. In other words, Nineheart wanted me to do the dirty work for himself. 'There are others,' I said. 'Why me?'

'Well, it's because you're the easiest –' Nineheart realized it quickly and faked a cough. 'I mean the bravest among us all. You're the only one I can trust.' Hawkeye giggled in the background. I narrowed my eyes at Nineheart, but nodded as any further argument would be wasting time. 'Thank you in advance. We'll wait here. You can find the student records in the teacher's room located on the first floor.'

As I shifted towards the entrance, Mihile shook his head at me. Right, I'm now one of Nineheart's disposable pawns. I sighed as I closed the door behind me after Mir had entered the building. Most of the students were gone, and I wasn't in the mood to walk down those flights of stairs, so I teleported downwards until I reached the first floor, then walked towards the teacher's room. Elwin was inside when I opened the door, and he was frightened at the sudden noise. 'Oh, hey Evan!' he said cheerfully. 'Your timing is impeccable; this place is overrun with Dusts! Most of them weren't caught into the Dust Zone, so I had to send them by myself. Barely. Lucky for me, most of the teachers had left for the day.'

'Oh. By the way, have you seen any student records around?' I asked as I approached him.

'Student records?' He looked at the ceiling for a moment. 'Nope, but the Dusts I sent away carried papers with them. Maybe it includes student records.'

'Great.' I went to the door and opened it wide. 'Can you fit in, Mir? We have things to do.'

 _I'll try, Master!_ Mir said as it entered slowly, making several scratches on the doorframe as it moved through it slowly. It must be getting fatter from yesterday. I hope the teacher's eyes wouldn't be too sharp to notice them.

'If you need something, then you should try hunt Dusts in the Dust Zone. That way you can cull them as well, taking down two birds with one stone!' Elwin ran towards Arkarium's place and pointed at the portal standing beside it. I nodded. Mir's wings had hit me on the face while it was trying to move in and I staggered backwards. A purple "3500" flew up to the Heavens. That was some damage I have not expected to get.

'Sorry, Master,' Mir said. 'Looks like I spread them out too quick.'

I shook my head and closed the door just in case there were any remaining students wandering around. Elwin sat by the teacher's table. 'I'll be waiting here.'

'Okay.' I started buffing myself, then entered the portal. Although I couldn't see Mir, but I could feel its presence. 'You're taking the lower platform, and I'm taking the top one. It's a deal, right?'

'Alright Master!'

Then we started defeating the Dusts available in the Zone. Most of them dropped papers. I picked one up and found out it was the record of Francis. Looks like I needed to collect them all to find the one about Bully. 'Careful with the papers – don't burn them,' I told Mir.

Fortunately it didn't. I collected a total of forty papers before leaving the Dust Zone. 'Good job,' Elwin said when I came out of it. 'Why do you need them, anyway?' He offered his paw towards me to help organize the papers.

I handed it to him and said, 'I'm looking for information about Bully from my class. Nineheart from the rooftop wants me to get them ASAP.'

'You're looking for information about that threatening-looking bully? I can tell you – he's naughty! I was sitting by the front gate when he tried to kick me and call me a mutt.' Elwin was angry when he recalled that incident. 'I mean, seriously! No mutt is as cute as I am. He's so naughty!' So that was why he was angry, and not almost being kicked. I chuckled. After settling the last papers, he handed the pile to me. 'Here are the student records. I've organized them into a neat pile. Take it to the rooftop.'

'Thanks, Elwin,' I smiled.

Then he started praising himself. 'Gosh, I'm too kind for my own good, and no mutt is as kind as me,' he muttered.

I sighed and played along. 'Right, right. You're a kind, good puppy.' He stood up proud, although having a small stature, I could see him puffing his chest. I couldn't help but laugh at him, then went along the way to the rooftop, handing them towards the ringleader of the meeting. The rest were sitting on the benches provided.

'You've brought them,' Nineheart smiled as he took them from my hand and start flipping through it. 'Let's see… He's the son of Chairperson Areda! Finally, everything starts to fall into place.' The atmosphere shifted upon the mention of Areda. Really? He's the son of the sun-looking woman? Anyone who had their eyes casted on her will have their retinas burnt. How could anyone marry her?! Then again I recalled Abdullah VIII married her, and Spiegelmann showed interest in her as well. I shuddered upon the thought.

'Then why didn't you tell us?' Irena asked him. I wonder if I was being overdramatic about her appearance. Perhaps I have yet to discover the beauty of her double chin folds and smug look. It also had reminded me of the shockingly beautiful Princess Violetta. I felt like I've seen enough bad memories for the day.

'What about Chairperson Areda?' I asked him to keep my thoughts distracted.

'The chairperson is not a good woman you think she is. This happened last year, when I was coming down the stairs. She said, "Cygnus, that cunning wench! If she didn't intervene, the school would have been demolished and the land would be mine. She's more calculating than she leads others to believe. Cunning wench! Wicked wench! I swear, when I become her mother-in-law, I'm going to see that she pays for her transgression in tears, and Shinsoo Group would be mine! Oh ho ho…"' I think Nineheart would be a good voice actor by his acting. He seemed to remember them clearly.

'That's horrible…' Oz muttered.

'I'm surprised you remembered all those.' Hawkeye looked amazed.

'That's right. The chairperson is feigning kindness while plotting to destroy the school by the first chance she gets.' Then Nineheart sighed deeply. 'Of course, Miss Cygnus is oblivious to her plot. She's pure and trusting like that.' The rest nodded in agreement. 'But maybe it's time for her to learn the truth. Let's go to her office and tell her this.'

'Right,' Mihile nodded. The group then went towards her office located on the first floor. However, when we opened the doors, there wasn't anyone there at all. Nineheart had a puzzled look on his face.

'I saw her in her office a minute ago. Where did she go?' he looked at all of us. Eckhart and Mihile shook their heads while the rest of us shrugged. I think that "a minute ago" was when the all of us were busy listening to Nineheart's mimicking Queen Areda, so he might be exaggerating that a little. He looked at me. 'You'd better call Miss Cygnus.' But why? Why me? I pulled out my phone after a click of my tongue and dialed her number.

Everyone was staring at me as I put the phone right by my ear. 'Give it a break,' I shifted uneasily.

The call connected. 'Hello? Evan?' Cygnus voice said. 'Don't worry, I ditched the Chauffeur.'

'Huh? Why?'

'What do you mean, why? You told me that you wanted to see me in private. I've got your text sent under the name "Fateful Transfer Student". Ho ho ho.'

'I didn't send that message. Where are you right now?'

'Oh, I'm running out of battery. I'll see you soon.'

'Hello? Hello?' I clicked my tongue and looked at the rest of the group. 'Rats, she hung up.'

'Did she tell where she was going?' Nineheart asked. I shook my head. Was it Bully who sent it under that name? Nineheart pinched his forehead, sighing. 'Why didn't you ask?!' he scowled at me, then looked away worried. 'This is bad. Miss Cygnus… she might be in danger!'

'Do you think she's with that ogre right now?' Irena said, her face darkened in fear. 'He'd say, "I'm the Fateful Transfer Student, you know." And she would believe it!'

'I wouldn't be surprised. Then they would take the next step…' Hawkeye trailed off.

'He would make her kiss him in order to protect the school?' I bit my lip. It would be something he would do, if he was the one spreading the rumor.

Eckhart muttered, 'It's possible.'

Oz made an impression of Cygnus and started a sobbing sound. '"I can't believe you're the Fateful Transfer Student, but I'll do anything to protect the school. Please, take my lips."'

I think everyone had imagined that in the back of their minds as their faces turned pale. 'Don't even joke about it!' Mihile scowled.

'No way, right?' Oz let out a nervous laughter. 'I thought Cygnus had her standards.'

'But Cygnus is so naïve that she believes anything anyone says.' Irena then sighed deeply.

The one most affected was none other than Nineheart. His face looked like a sheet of paper. 'We must stop this. Oz and Irena, please search the school,' he ordered.

'Right!' Then they both dashed out of the room.

'Hawkeye, Mihile, and Eckhart, check the outside of the school.'

'We're on it.' Eckhart nodded, and they left the room.

'Evan, I need you to take the bus and search outside the city.'

'Okay.' Nineheart nodded at me as I left the room.

 _Where should we go, Master? There are many places where the bus stops!_ Mir said while I ran towards the entrance. _I don't think we have much time to stop what might befall Cygnus!_

I remembered the bus brings to three different locations other than the front of the school. I checked all the possible destinations from the bus schedule at the bus stop, but I have absolutely no idea where to go. I've decided to call Prefect since he would be more familiar to the surroundings. 'Poing-poing! What's up, Evan?' he asked. I had almost forgotten of the ridiculous greeting. Surprisingly I haven't heard anyone else using that.

'Right. Do you know where people would go when they're asking someone to meet them in secret? It's urgent, by the way.'

'Wow, what's the rush?' he teased. 'Anyway, I think the Fountain Park would be a good dating spot, but in secret? Hmm… The Sunset Yard may be one, for no one expected anyone to date in a playground. Heh, tell me all about it when you get back.'

'It's not what you think it is,' I said to the phone, but he had already hung up. Sighing, I got into the portal and exited at the Sunset Yard. Surprisingly, Lily was standing by the flowerbed nearest to the bus stop, and she gave me a sloppy purr greeting.

'Evan, here, here!' she called.

There wasn't anyone there, to my relief. 'Why are you here?' I asked when I squatted in front of her. 'Though, first things first - have you seen Cygnus?'

'I have. She just walked by this street.' She lifted her paw to point at the direction into the playground. 'By the way, I've made an interesting discovery from those strange dust balls you've collected for me.'

'They come from human desires?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Not quite right, but close. Dusts manifest themselves from the darkness in one's mind. Hatred, jealousy, resentment… you know the drill. Dusts feed on such emotions. And when the darkness is heightened by external simulations, Dusts grow big and come out of the shadows to attack anyone that they see. Those are what you called "Troublemakers".'

'Sounds like a big deal. Anymore?' Any second wasted here would mean Cygnus getting her lips stolen by the son of the sun woman.

'This city is overrun with Dusts created by someone's hatred towards Cygnus. We must find and eliminate the negative emotion.'

'I have someone in mind about the matter. Let's hope the Troublemaker doesn't spawn out of her.'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'Very well. One way to do so is to reduce the numbers of Dusts. Evan, you must eliminate them before they became numerous. I will send you to the alternate dimension to eliminate them. Are you ready to go?'

I casted Magic Guard on myself. 'Always.' I said, grinning.

She nodded and moved me to the Dust Zone. 'Good luck Evan.'

It was different from before, with the area slightly bigger as I saw another portal on the other side of the map. Lily was standing beside me, probably aiding me to move towards the different zones. I had no time to lose, so I just go on a killing spree with Magic Guard, Maple Warrior and Magic Booster. Mir took my first kill by using Flame Wheel at the first Dust I see. 'Really,' I said to it as ten of them died from the skill. 'You're not playing fair.'

'Time is essence, Master. It's not the time to play fair.'

For all three maps, Mir and I were trying to get the most kills. I managed to deal with most of them with Blizzard on the second map to get an early start, and Mir casted Dark Fog a second too late to pick up several monsters that I missed. All maps were slightly altered from each other, yet show the same place. I had to drink Elixer before I left the last map just in case any monsters pop up afterwards despite it was written "FINAL". Mir and I shared the same MP bar, and when the both of us use skills of our own, it gets drained faster, especially when I used adventurer Arch Mage's skills, as it wasn't my own set of skills. 50k MP should be enough to finish any other.

Lily looked at me as if I was a monster at the end of the map. 'That's ridiculous,' she blurted out. 'How can you learn other set of skills?!'

I didn't answer her. When I left the map, it was on the other side of Sunset Yard. In front of me was Bully, who was slumped to the ground, and behind him stood sun-woman. 'I've found you, Bully. Where's Cygnus?'

'Cygnus, Cygnus,' he spat her name as if it was a curse. 'I'm tired of hearing her name! Stop telling me what to do! I'm not going to marry her!'

Was he talking about what Nineheart told me about earlier, about Areda wanted to be Cygnus's mother-in-law? Is Bully a mere puppet to realize her goals, then? So the rumors were actually spread by Areda herself. Fortunately, by the sound of it, he didn't stole Cygnus's lips. Areda, however, was aghast by his response.

'I'm in love with someone else!' He added after a pause. 'She told me behind the school today, "Women are the scariest when they're hungry or angry, and you've just angered a hungry woman." It was then I realized a strange feeling – love. I'm in love with the green-haired senior in the school, not Cygnus!'

Green-haired? The only one I know in that school is Irena. The atmosphere turned awkward afterwards. I don't want to know whom he really loves, anyway. I glanced at Lily. She was confused. 'Mom, I want to be normal,' Bully turned towards his mother. 'I want to make friends like everyone else does.' Looks like this had turned into family matters. I wanted to go back, but Lily let out a soft, sloppy purr and shook her head. I guess I needed to stay and watch this to the very end.

'Shut it!' Areda yelled. He flinched backwards.

'M-mom?'

'I raised you all wrong. All wrong! You fool, you're not worthy of the handsome face I gave you!' Areda scowled, then looked away from him, seemingly to gather a new plan. Bully looked like he was swallowing her anger, but unexpectedly he stood up for himself.

'Being handsome doesn't make me a superman,' Bully muttered.

'Shut up! Stop talking back to your mother!' Areda scowled deeper. 'I was a farm girl. Do you _know_ what I had to do to get this far? Huh?' She let out a deep sigh. 'I can't believe my own son is ruining things for me, and is refusing to listen his own mother!'

Bully stood up from the ground. 'B-but I'm not your puppet!'

'W-what now?' Areda was baffled by his words. 'Puppet?!' Gritting her teeth, she looked away from him, crossing her arms. 'All right then. You're not my son anymore. Go live on your own! Emancipate yourself! Let's end this all!' All those words came out as a spat. Bully was shaken by his own mother's words. I bit my lower lip. I really didn't want to involve in family matters. Ugh.

'Ugh… Mom, you're scaring me…' Bully said, taking a few steps back.

She pointed to her right. 'I don't need you anymore! Get out of my sight!'

Bully ran away with tears in his eyes towards the portal that moves one into the bus. It sure must be a shock for his own mother to spat such cruel words. Looks like throughout the family matter argument I was neglected. Should I go? I don't want to deal with sun-woman…

'Argh, my neck, my neck!' she muttered after Bully left.

'Evan, look!' Lily poked my leg. Areda was glowing in dark green aura, a portal-like thing with similar color appeared behind her. What was going on?

'Shinsoo group is mine. Mine! No one can steal it from _me_!' her voice turned into something sinister. A strange bright light appeared from her. I looked away to avoid too much damage to my eyes. It was the same as Bully's case. When I casted my eyes on Areda again, she had already fallen to the ground, leaning against the stone bench behind her. The Troublemaker standing in front of her had a green Mohawk on its head, wearing a spike headband. Its skull face seemed to be smiling with three odd front top teeth showing. Spiky chain necklaces hung around its neck, and a bundle of money floated at each side of the monster's head.

'Evan, the chairperson's darkness has exploded and manifested into a Troublemaker! You must get rid of it before others see it!' Lily cried.

'I know that!' I said as the Troublemaker shifted its attention to the both of us. While I cast my buffs, it headed towards me. It was called Greedy Troublemaker. "Her obsession with money had called forth this Troublemaker." Mir stopped it from its tracks as it spewed Ice Breath. It was stronger than Bully's Troublemaker, for it didn't stopped attacking even though it couldn't move. It raised both of its hands up, as if to hold the bundle of money that turned orange beside it, and called forth a sigil that appeared as a bundle of money around the area. One of them was in between Lily and I, and the both of us shifted to different sides before it exploded. As I avoided it, I went a little too close to the Troublemaker. It raised both hands ups, one into a fist and another covering around it and slammed it onto me. Fortunately I acted fast enough to block it with my staff. Although it dealt quite a damage onto me, but I manage to parry it and teleported away from it.

'Mir, Illusion!'

Mir attacked it in blinding speed, cutting its HP into half. I summoned Frozen Orb and whacked it towards the monster. Right after Mir's attacks were over, the orb had reached it, spewing ice shards as it slowed down. Greedy Troublemaker called forth the sigils again. Mir flew into the sky as I teleported away. I had missed seeing a nearby sigil to the location I teleported and suffered 2000 HP loss and 8000 MP loss. Mir used Illusion on the monster again, finishing it in its second consecutive attacks.

'Is it over?' Lily popped out from the nearby bushes. I pulled out a Power Elixer from my bag and poured its contents into my mouth, then sighing as I approached the now unconscious Areda.

She was groaning in pain. 'Shinsoo Group is mine… mine….'

'I guess she's alright if she managed to speak.' I don't want to look at her face a second longer.

'Yeah. Let's go back home,' Lily agreed and we entered the bus.

I noticed a tear on my sleeves. I took note of it and remember to sew it together when I get back. Prefect, as he had told me through the phone, looked at me eagerly to know what had happened. 'So? Who did you bring out?' he asked.

Elwin looked up from the manga he held. I realized he was holding another title that I've never shown them. He must've took it out while I was away. 'Oh? You're on a date?'

I sighed. 'Of course not. I was looking for Cygnus…' I trailed off. Oh, I should call Nineheart about Cygnus. I took out my phone and called Nineheart. 'Hey, Nineheart, about Cygnus…' I spoke as soon as the call connected.

'She just went back a while ago with Chauffeur. Thanks for helping, even though you've never found her. She's safe for now.'

'Oh, good. A relief for you, huh?'

'Of course. If anything happens to Miss Cygnus, I…' he trailed off, then he hung up the phone. I looked at the phone and grinned. Typical Nineheart.

Lily smiled. 'Good job, Fateful Transfer Student.'

'Not that again,' I sighed.

'I'm telling the truth. You're a transfer student who hunts Dusts and Troublemakers to protect his classmates. You're special. Considering how similar the relationships in this world are to those in the other world, I feel that those worlds are bound by fate.'

'And I'm the one who initiated it,' Elwin said proudly.

She ignored him. 'Anyway, good job, though our strategy to keep you out of public eye has failed.'

'Yeah, like, remember yesterday that you _yelled_ to gain a policewoman's attention?' Elwin sneered.

'I learnt my lesson, okay?' I looked at him.

'Remain as a student of Shinsoo International School until the next Troublemaker makes its appearance.'

'Does that mean I can stay here longer?' Prefect cheered.

'Sounds like there's a long way ahead of me…' I muttered. 'Oh well.'

'Here, I found these in the park when I was hiding in the bushes.' Lily handed me two silver needles. 'You might need it.'

'Thanks, Lily.' That's 3 silver needles. It might take a while for me to get enough to change the uniform skin – oh, I probably don't need it anyway.


	8. Chapter 6 extras

Sorry, but if you're looking for chapter 7, it's not here yet. This story don't have much contributed to the main story, just something written out of boredom.

* * *

The next day, I brought the manga to school. I planned to read them during recess, but as I was heading towards the reading room, I stumbled upon Oz, Irena and Cygnus. 'Hello Evan,' Irena greeted me. 'Do you want to have lunch with us? It's my treat, as a thank you for treating us two days ago.'

I looked at the three of them awkwardly. I wasn't used to eat with other students other than Francis. 'Are you sure?'

'Are you shy?' Oz teased. 'C'mon, we don't bite.'

I took up her offer. I felt bad to order something expensive, so I asked for cream puffs that Hawkeye had told me a while ago, for it was cheaper than the ramen I had once eaten. Mihile, Eckhart and Hawkeye were coincidentally in the cafeteria as well, and the seven of us occupied one table and ate together. Hawkeye noticed me ordering cream puffs. 'You ordered cream puffs too?' his eyes gleamed. 'They're the best!'

'Really?' It raised my hopes about its taste.

'Nothing beats red bean bun and milk,' Mihile said.

'No one asked you!' Hawkeye scowled.

After school, Bully stood by my seat as soon as the bell rung. 'Hey,' he said intimidatingly. But it was not effective against me. 'Meet me at the backyard after packing your stuffs.' Then he left. Francis stopped by afterwards.

'What did you do this time?' Francis asked, worried. 'Is he still bearing the grudge about you beating him? Don't worry, I'm rooting for you. You can beat him one more time!'

'Well, I wonder why he asked me out too.' Did I offend him? Or he was trying to ask me to forget what had happened the day before? Either way, I wouldn't know unless I get to the backyard.

When I reached there, he looked at me with a stern look. 'You seemed to be close to the green-haired senior,' he said. 'What is your relationship with her? She's mine, and you know it!'

Oh, so it was that. 'Irena? We just met a while back, so I guess we're accomplices. I'm not interested in her – go get her if you want to.'

His eyes widened. 'So, her name is Irena.' He looked at the ground for a moment, then shifted his gaze to me. 'Do you have her number?'

'Whoa, whoa, calm down, Bully,' I raised both hands. 'I can't just give you other people's number without their permission. If you want it, go get it from her! I'm not interested to be your cupid.'

He clicked his tongue. 'Fine. But remember, I'll be watching you if you make any funny moves. Don't go trying to snatch her.' Then he left me alone at the school backyard. Heh, is he jealous of our little friendship? I headed towards the school gate, ready to go back to Animanga District when I stumbled Irena and Oz by the rice cake skewer truck again. Oz waved at me, and I felt bad to ignore them, so I walked over.

'Evan, do you want some rice cake skewers?' Oz asked. 'My treat!'

I shook my head. I don't want to burn my tongue again. 'You two seem to like it very much. I don't find it tasty as you both do.'

'Because you can't take spicy food?' Irena grinned.

'Sort-of.'

'I saw you heading out to the school's backyard. What happened?' Irena asked. 'Someone wanted to fight with you or something?'

'Oh no,' I quickly denied. 'Bully wanted to talk to me.' Should I tell her the truth? I think I should. They frowned at me. 'He's interested in you, Irena.'

Her face darkened. 'Why?'

I shrugged. 'He seemed to like you after you told him off… something about a warning to not anger a hungry woman.'

Oz giggled. 'Congratulations, Irena. You've gotten yourself a fanboy.'

'I don't want it!' Irena let out a sigh. 'Please Evan, tell me that it's a lie.'

I grinned. 'Seems like you made a masochist fall in love with you. Well, I should get going, see you around.'

Irena looked upset. I went to the manga store and brought up to the fifth book of all the three titles I had gotten because Prefect and Elwin were bothering me about it. I have yet to read the other two, but I should do it in one sitting.

When I got back home, I received notifications for messages. Mihile had texted something yesterday, but it seemed like I had forgotten to see it. He said, "It's lucky that she got off easy." Today's notification was from Irena and Hawkeye. Irena started by, "Help… that goon is hitting on me now." I raised an eyebrow. Did he somehow found Irena by the truck right after I said that to her?

It was followed by Hawkeye's, "Good for you, haha" towards Irena. Irena replied, "You're begging for thrashing", to which Hawkeye responded "Sorry" to her. I chuckled. They both would make an interesting pair. I joined in the conversation by texting, "Good luck Irena. You will need it."

While reading halfway through the second book of one of the manga, I received a reply. "Not you too, Evan" said Irena. Hawkeye asked, "Why did he get a different response?"

I read through all the manga brought by staying up at night. The next day, I felt like I haven't sleep a wink. How horrible it is to have Prefect bugging me in the morning when I only had three hours of sleep. 'Since you don't go to school today, bring me out to Maple World!' he shook me as I groaned in bed. 'C'mon Evan, you guys ditched me for four days now, so please? Pretty please?'

'What time is it?' I asked sleepily. Mir opened one eye, looking at Prefect.

'It's seven o'clock.'

'Let me sleep for another three hours and we'll talk.' Then I pulled the covers up to cover my head. So noisy…

'No! I want to go now! Please, Evan? Please? Pleeeease?' Prefect pulled the blanket away from my face. 'You'd allow me to explore, right? Right?!'

'Ugh…Fine.'

I went across the interdimensional portal to find that he had woken up the siblings as well. Lily had a grumpy look on her face, and Elwin seemed to have fallen asleep on the table whilst Prefect made some omelet for us. When Mir passed through the portal, it realized that Prefect didn't made anything for him. 'Where's mine?' Mir asked as it looked at us.

'Oh,' was what Prefect could only say. I took my plate to the kitchen and prepared the ingredients for several omelets. I first prepared by cracking ten eggs into a bowl. Mir eyes at my food for a long time. I gave it a taste of the omelet, then I started chopping some hotdogs after defrosting it with magic for its meat supply.

'It's not bacon?' Mir asked, disappointed.

'You have enough bacon for the week, Mir.'

I ate my omelet while making some for Mir. I noticed Prefect was standing beside me as I waited for its first surface to be well cook. 'What is it?' I asked.

'I was wondering, Mir had been eating so much, yet I haven't seen it drink any fluid, nor going to toilet to remove its waste. Where do they go?'

I put a quarter of the chopped hotdogs onto the omelet. 'Mir burnt them up. Sometimes if you smell something weird, it must be Mir burning its feces again. Mir do drink water, but since its front limbs are so short, it had to lap through some nearby fountain or something.'

'So… did it drink the water from Fountain Park when you visited there?' Prefect asked.

I paused for a moment to think if Mir did anything like that. 'It did.'

'That's dangerous!' Prefect said in concern. 'They put chlorine into it to prevent bacteria living in it, so it would be bad for it!'

'No wonder I had a poison effect,' I sighed while flipping the omelet with a spatula. 'Mir and I are one being, so if anything happened to it, I would know right away as long I check my HP and MP bar.'

'You're talking nonsense again,' Prefect sighed. 'We don't have a HP or MP bar. This isn't a game.'

'Too bad, I am from a game.'

Prefect remained silent. I removed the omelet from the pan to feed it to Mir when I noticed his mask of shock. 'I thought you knew. Magic and things like that doesn't appear in reality. We're really a figment of your kind's imagination.' Then I poured some of the mixed eggs into the pan.

'I'm living in a game world?' Prefect said rather cheerfully. 'Am I going to a main character too, like the manga you brought about the black swordsman?' Somehow he was too happy about that. I don't think he will be the same, for he wasn't quite absorbed into the game. He is still an abnormality in Maple World. 'Say, let's go visit the job instructors or whatever you told me about! I'm going to be very best among everyone else!' Then he ran out cheerfully telling the siblings about it.

'Should we tell him the truth?' Mir asked. 'I don't feel any mana coming out from him.'

I shrugged. 'Eh, he'll learn it soon enough. Maybe the influence of our world may give him a power or two – who knows.'

After I finished cooking, Prefect kept on bugging us (Elwin, Lily and I) to bring him out to explore Maple World. Elwin and Lily rejected him immediately and shifted the responsibility to me. 'We need to keep the interdimensional portal steady and prevent anything big from slipping out. We also need to keep in check about the Dusts' numbers,' Lily said. 'You go entertain him, DragonGod.'

'You're just saying that because he's annoying,' I crossed my arms.

'Exactly.'

'I don't want to deal with him – I want to read the manga! He's not even close to the black swordsman depicted here!' Elwin replied, pointing at the cover where the main character was drawn. 'Do you think he have enough ability points on the stats to be an adventurer?'

'No idea. I don't think he have things like "stats".'

I replaced my Dragon Tail Mage Robe with Beige Plain Robe so I would blend into the Maple World. After all, they would be staring at me, wondering why I wear such an odd-looking armor. My umbrella could stay, for many other adventurers too have weird looking ones. 'Let's go. We're going to Athena Pierce's place,' I called out to Prefect. I could almost see him like a dog with that stupid smile on his face.

'So, where's this Athena Pierce?' he asked, excitedly. 'Will she be able to teach me the ways of a warrior?'

'No, Athena Pierce is a bowman instructor.' I walked towards my right, passing through Rina's house towards the stacked hay. He followed after me. 'There's an easier way to get to her without walking too far. Climb up this hay.'

'Why is there a random hay stacked over here?' he asked while climbing the haystacks. I teleported towards the teleporter above the haystack.

'No idea. Ask the developer of the map.' I saw the portal heading towards Ardentmill and remembered that Mir's illusion potion had been weakening. I wonder if Ally the alchemist could help me develop a stronger potion even though it serves no purpose to Maple World's residence by being invisible.

'So? Where's the easier way?' Prefect asked, panting when he reached to the platform where I was. Mir sighed.

 _Master, I doubt he could be an adventurer. He's not fit enough._

That's because he's been sitting down reading manga all day long while we're out killing Dusts. 'Right in front of you. Touch the orange orb of the teleporter and you'll be moved to the front of Athena Pierce's instructing school.' Of course, I don't need to touch it, I just needed to use the up arrow to move. I don't think he has an up arrow button, so hopefully by touching the thing he would move.

Prefect nodded and followed my instructions. He disappeared after touching the orb. I think it worked. I used the teleporter and warped myself towards the other end of Henesys. He looked at the huge Henesys Maple TV. 'That's a huge television you have, but nothing much to show other than this advertisement huh?'

'That's because not many would watch it. Come down. Athena Pierce's house is this way.' I jumped down from the platform to the left, landing on the ground with my knees bent to reduce the impact force.

'Are you crazy? My legs would break if I were to jump down from that height!' he cried. 'I'm not risking it – I'm going down with the platforms.' So he did. Prefect almost fell down while climbing down the ladder, fortunately Mir only needed to spread its wings to support him. He let out a sigh when he reached the ground. 'How are you fine from falling from _that_ height?' he pointed at the platform he was before.

'You don't get fall damage from that height, silly.'

He scowled at my ability. 'Athena Pierce is right here, right? I'll be able to rise up to fame!' he grinned evilly. I don't see why he would be able to do so. Let's hope that he can wield a bow, shall we, readers?

We entered Bowman's International School to our left and headed up the stairs. Several bowman were training against a target practice board downstairs and they stopped to let us pass. Athena Pierce in green bowman overall had just ordered a newborn bowman to work and noticed our presence as the new archer ran down, passing us. 'Hello DragonGod,' she nodded at me. 'And who is the person beside you be?'

Before I could answer, Prefect said gleefully, 'My name is Prefect! I'm here to learn the ways of an archer!'

Athena Pierce nodded. 'Do you have 25 DEX in your stats, young one?'

'Wait, what?' Prefect frowned. 'What's this "stats" you're talking about?'

I walked forward to Athena Pierce, who was equally confused. 'Sorry about that – he's a bit special. Just toss him a Beginner's Bow or Crossbow to let him play around, okay?' I whispered.

'I don't know what you are planning to do, DragonGod, but he isn't fit to be a bowman if he doesn't have enough DEX.'

'Please, Helena?' The name slipped out of my tongue. I had forgotten that I have returned to Maple World. I hope Athena didn't mind.

'How do you know my maiden name?' Athena looked at me, shocked. 'I've never told anyone about it!'

'I don't know that it was your maiden name!' I flinched.

Athena eyed at me suspiciously. 'Fine. I'll let him try against a wooden puppet.' She turned towards Prefect who was frowning at the both of us. With a smile she greeted him. 'Welcome to the Bowman's International School. Be careful when you walked around. We have a lot of new students, and I'd hate to see you catch an arrow to the knee.'

Prefect laughed. 'I know a good joke about that. It was all over the Internet for a while when the game was out.'

'I don't trust him being an archer, DragonGod,' Athena whispered upon his response. 'Let's go out. I'll see to his ability and decide whether he is suitable to be an archer.'

'Thanks, Athena.' I nodded at her, and gestured to Prefect to leave the building. The three of us were outside of her school, some of the bowman seemed to peep through the door, wondering why Athena Pierce would leave her place. She summoned Scarecrow twenty meters away and gave Prefect a Beginner Bowman's Bow.

'Try practice firing an arrow towards the scarecrow,' Athena told Prefect. She took her own long bow to serve as an example on how to fire an arrow. 'Remain this posture, and carefully pull the arrow back as you aim towards the target.' Prefect looked at her in awe. 'When you are ready, release the string.' As soon as she said that, she fired an arrow and it planted itself on the head of the scarecrow. 'Get it?'

'Not quite, but I'll try.' Prefect attempted to mimic Athena's stance and shot at the target. The arrow planted itself to the ground several meters away from him. Mir suppressed the urge to laugh. 'Hey!' he scowled at it. 'Let me try again, alright?'

Athena stood behind him and fixed his posture. 'Your shoulders are too tense, boy,' she told him. I could see Prefect tensing up even more. I grinned at him as he tried to fire an arrow. It fell short again even after Athena's help, but this time it was closer to the target.

'I can do this!' Prefect nodded at himself and tried again. Somehow when he fired the arrow, the bow flew out of his hands. My reaction made me struck the flying bow down with my staff before it hit my face. His shot didn't make it to the target again. I sighed.

'You sound confident. Why don't you try it then?' Prefect scowled at me. Athena shook her head in disappointment for accepting such a student from my selfish request. I picked up the bow on the ground and handed it back to Athena Pierce.

'I cannot use this item as I am not a bowman. However…' I used Element Composition, a skill that was lost through adventurer skill revamp. Prefect was surprised when two orbs merged into one arrow as I fired it at Scarecrow. It hit the target's chest. 'I can only do that.'

'Cool… I want to be a magician!' Prefect grinned. 'Who's the job instructor?'

'It's Grendel the Really Old.'

Then we waved goodbye to Athena Pierce, who was relief to see us leave. We went to the other side of Henesys using the teleporter again, then took the Regular Cab beside the haystack. 'Where would you two want to go?' the driver asked. 'We have a special fee, so it wouldn't cost anything for a certain period of time. Your destination is…?'

'To Elinia, please.'

In a blink of an eye we reached Elinia, and we were standing by the Magic Library. 'Wow, that cab travels in the speed of light!' Prefect was amazed. 'Earth's technology has yet to reach that standard!'

'Yes… Enter the Magic Library to your right. Grendel the Really Old should be inside.' Prefect looked around Elinia in awe as he bombarded me with questions that I had forgotten due to my tiredness and pushed him into Magic Library to prevent him asking me again if I had heard his questions.

Grendel the Really Old floated in the middle of the room. 'Ah, welcome, DragonGod. Is there a book you're looking for? You look like you've seen them all…' Grendel reached the ground and greeted us. He noticed Prefect beside me. 'Hello, otherworldly student. What brings you here?'

'I want to be a magician, sir!' Prefect told him with a beam.

'Ah. Do you have 20 INT in your stats?'

'This again? I don't understand the thing about stats!' Prefect looked at me. 'You ought to tell me about it now!'

'Grendel, won't you let him fiddle with Beginner Magician's Wand for a moment?' I asked. 'He may be a help to his world when fighting Dusts.'

Grendel paused briefly, then produced a wand from his bag. 'Here, young one. Practice with DragonGod. He will aid you in this quest.'

Prefect took the wand. 'Yes!' Grinning, he turned towards me. 'So uh, how am I supposed to use magic? And, does INT stands for Intelligence?'

I nodded. 'It determines the strength of magic power, the amount of mana of the magician. Magicians do need a little LUK, which stands for Luck, to increase our accuracy when attacking.'

'So… are you incredibly intelligent then?' Prefect asked again. 'How many books did you read to have your stats to such a height? Also, what's your INT value?'

I didn't think of that way as it was merely a stat to be put when I have ability points when I level up. Sure, I do read books, but I doubt that they boosted my INT stat. The only things that increased my stats were stat boosts from equipment and weapons, as well as their potential ability. 'My INT value is a secret.' I smiled. 'Now, focus your mind onto your wand. It enhances your ability on casting a skill.'

Prefect looked at the short, simple wand, and looked at my umbrella-staff. 'Let me wield yours then, for it can enhance it to the best.'

'You don't have enough INT for that.'

He pouted. He focused his thoughts onto the wand, and then yelled, 'Wingardium Leviosa!' while moving his hand around to a certain gesture. Both Grendel and I frowned at him. Of course, nothing happened. 'Rats, nothing happened! The magic in this world is useless!'

'Why did you bring this boy here?' Grendel whispered. 'His attitude is more suited to be a warrior.'

'He wanted to try magic out, so I did. Yeah, I should bring him to meet Dances with Barlog,' I whispered back. After several tries of that spell he yelled at the top his lungs, he gave up and returned the wand to Grendel. We both took the cab to Perion.

'It's ridiculously hot here…' Prefect fanned himself with his hand. 'Even though it's a high ground. Kinda looks like Egypt.'

'Egypt? Never heard of it,' I pointed to the bottom corner area, where a stone building with carved warriors on the walls outside, the left one holding a sword, whereas the right one holding a polearm. 'Dances with Barlog is here.'

'Who?' he frowned at the odd name.

'The warrior job instructor. So you can be the "black swordsman" you admired.'

He was happy once again. We walked up a flight of stone stairs and entered Warrior's Sanctuary placed above it. In front of us sitting on a stone throne cross-legged was Dances with Barlog, who had dark skin and wore feathered hat and a piece of cloth tied around his waist to cover his bottom. He opened one eye at our arrival. Standing beside the stairs towards the throne was Dragon Warrior, who had dark skin too and facial hair. He was a bald man that I had once asked to get a saddle for Mir so I can ride on it. Oh yeah, I remembered a promise we made a while ago…

 _Master, you remembered after all!_ Mir was happy. _So, when will you let me put a saddle on you and ride on you?_

Mir, if you were to sit on me, a tombstone would fall from the Heavens. I don't have enough STR to carry you.

 _Aw… Am I that heavy?_ Mir was disappointed.

You are _huge_.

'Welcome to the Warrior's Sanctuary,' Dances with Barlog said after a moment of silence, with the crackling fire pits beside him keeping the sanctuary filled with sounds. 'There isn't much to see here, but warriors don't need decoration! Go talk to Dragon Warrior if you aren't going to train!'

'Whew… it sure is hot here…' Prefect muttered. 'Sir, I want to be a warrior!'

Dances with Barlog raised an eyebrow. 'You don't have enough points on STR. Come back when you do.' Then he gestured us to leave.

'Dances with Barlog, can you make an exception for him?' I asked. 'He is here to try the ways of all jobs. Perhaps you would find him useful if he manage to show potential on wielding a warrior's weapon.'

He narrowed his eyes on the both of us. 'Very well then. I shall take on your recommendation.' He pulled out a simple sword from the back of the throne and tossed it towards Prefect, who flinched in fear that the sword would pierce through his feet. 'Take this Beginner Warrior's Sword and hunt 15 Stumps. If you manage to do so, I will accept him as a warrior.'

'I'll do my best!' Prefect accepted his offer and picked up the sword. The both of us left Warrior's Sanctuary and he turned to look at me. 'So, where does this "Stump" creature lives?' I pointed upwards. He looked up at the platforms above him and his face darkened. 'All the way up to the top?' I nodded. 'How am I supposed to get there?'

'By climbing the ropes. There's a simpler, hidden portal though.' I walked towards the back of one of the stairs, where Hera was at, floating.

'Hello there~ how can I help you in this beautiful day?' she asked as we approached her.

'Sorry, we're not going to Amoria.' I pointed at the small space between her and the stairs. 'Try touching this emerging rock. It should teleport you somewhere close to the top.' Prefect nodded, then glanced at Hera before doing so. 'Maybe next time, Hera.' I said to her after Prefect had left.

'Alright. You'll regret if you miss this chance~'

I entered the hidden portal, which took me to the top of Perion's Weapon Shop, which was located right beside Perion General Store. Prefect looked down, where we were before. 'This is really high,' he chuckled nervously. 'Please tell me that we don't need to climb the ropes.'

'We _need_ to climb the ropes, Prefect.' I led the way by walking towards the left, where a flight of stairs ended. 'We need to jump over there to that small space, then jump up to that flight of stairs. Can you do it?'

'No! I will die if I miss a step, right? I don't want that!'

'C'mon, without effort, how can you be the legendary black swordsman?' I shook my head, then extended my hand out to him. 'I'll help you, okay?'

He nodded. I went ahead towards the small space as he slowly threaded his path to the first flight of stairs. He examined the gap between the stairs and the narrow space ahead. 'It's not too far, right?' I reassured him. 'You can do it. Just widened your steps.' He nodded again and jumped ahead, almost tripping downwards. He stabbed the wall with his sword and sighed in relief.

'Almost there,' I told him and went towards the flight of stairs in front of the narrow space. 'Here, I'll help you up.' I extended my hand. He took mine and I pulled him up. Phew. The few stat boost on my STR helped me in this journey. We went up the flight of stairs and there were two roads heading up. 'There's two ways of heading up – one by taking a ladder and a rope, and another of a long rope up. Pick your choice.'

'The ladder first.'

'Okay.' Prefect went up first, then I followed after him. He gave me a shocked expression when he saw the rope dangling in front of him. 'What?'

'You never told me that I needed to jump off a cliff to get to it!' he cried.

'Don't sweat the small details. You're a warrior, right?'

'It's not a small detail!' he looked at the rope in fear. 'What if it breaks?'

'It won't. Trust me, Prefect. I saw many warriors went through this. It has been there for ten years.'

'Ten?!' he looked like he was about to faint. 'It's going to break under my weight, right? It's not going to last long! I'm going back! I'm not doing this anymore!'

'It's just a rope ahead though…' I sighed and looked at Mir. 'C'mon, you can't give up like this. The black swordsman did a lot to get to where he is in the story, right? Are you going to give up because of a rope?'

Prefect looked at the sword in hand. 'But…' He glanced at the rope, and then looked at me, then took a deep breath. 'Right. I'm going.' He jumped off the cliff and grabbed onto the rope successfully, then slowly climbed his way up. A few times he slipped and fell a few centimeters down, but he persevere and reached to top.

'Good job,' I told him as he looked down from the platform above. I went up the rope in ease and he narrowed his eyes at me. 'I've done this thing for over a thousand times. The Stumps are just right beside the portal. Let's go.' I led the way into the portal. He followed after me into Perion Northern Ridge. A few Stumps were in front of us, pacing back and forth slowly from its location.

Prefect laughed. 'They walk like penguins! Except they're stumps… and have four legs and an eye… disgusting.' His expression turned wry at the end.

'Ignore how they look. Your quest is to defeat 15 of these.' He gave me a pleading look. 'I'm not going to help you. This is your fight.' I added.

'Fine,' he snorted. 'I'll show you what I'm made of!' then he rushed towards the stumps and swung the sword clumsily onto the first Stump he sees. He dealt one damage. Mir giggled behind me. The Stump he attacked started following him and he shrieked in fear. 'What's going on? Why is it following me?'

'They will follow you when you attack them until they die or you left them alone long enough.'

'Which is?' Prefect ran towards me as the Stump slowly waddled over.

'I'm not sure. About… ten minutes I think? I don't really know.'

Prefect hit it again. He dealt two damage this time. 'How many HP does this thing have?'

'375 HP. 372 to go.'

'You must be kidding me. How am I supposed to kill fifteen of these things?!'

'Just whack it with your sword, of course.'

'Why don't you try then, stupid?' Prefect scowled at me. The Stump gradually came closer to me as he stood behind me in fear.

'I can't use warrior equipment. I can only use magician equipment. Sorry.'

'Then whack it with your staff! He yelled. 'It's going to hit us!'

I did before the Stump would inflict damage to me. Prefect looked at me in disbelief when it fell that easily to the ground. A brown coin appeared where it was last seen. 'I didn't see the damage. How much did you hit?'

'I didn't look, but my damage is definitely higher than its HP.'

'Hit again!' He pointed at another Stump waddling over. 'I want to see it. Please?'

I whacked the poor Stump. It died instantly. I saw "86735" appear from its body before it faded to the Heavens. A bronze coin and a wooden stick appear after the death of the Stump on the place it stood.

'Damn you, Evan,' then Prefect stomped away. I hurried after him. He went down to the lowest platform and returned the sword to Dances with Barlog, and he stopped by the cab. I teleported after him.

'Are you upset?' I asked.

'I bloody am, how can a magician hit such a high damage?'

'By enhancing my equipment using scrolls and cubes to reach higher heights. I went through a lot to get to what you see today,' I grinned. 'By the way, scrolls are used to enhance gears while cubes are used to reset potential ability in certain equipment.'

'And you haven't worn your best equipment right? The one with fur around the neck, its appearance changed to the school uniform now. And you aren't even using magic, which may lead to higher damage.'

'Yeah.'

'How long did it take you to get this far?'

'About four years. It isn't an easy journey.'

'Let's go back. I'm tired from all that today,' he sighed. 'I'll try again next time.'

We took the cab and returned to Henesys. Prefect seemed to be burying himself in the manga about the black swordsman, mumbling something under his breath every time he flips a page. I wonder what he was thinking about. I had asked Ally to research for the illusion potion after I returned to Henesys. Hopefully she would give me answers on enhancing its effects.


	9. Chapter 7 (FS Chapter 2)

A week flew by without much problems, though from time to time I entered into some Dust Zones in school to remove the threats for fun, which Elwin and Lily disagrees with my new hobby ("What if someone caught you appearing and disappearing in one area?"). On Tuesday, Cygnus realized I was wearing the plain black school uniform when I arrived about the same time to school as her. She shook her head and the blonde, wavy haired girl dragged me to Big Headger's uniform shop and specified him to tailor three sets of the school uniform of Shinsoo International School for me. I told her it was okay, but she replied, "No, I cannot accept this. You are officially our school's student, and I have owed you many. This is something I would like to give in return." After school that day, I stopped by Shiny Club and changed my uniform skin to the school's official uniform – a light brown blazer above a white dress shirt and dark brown pants, with a red tie to boot, and two extra skins used on the overalls Big Headger sold.

Prefect was the first one to notice the change. 'Nice uniform. I thought you needed about ten Big Headger's Silver Needles or something to change into something new? Did you go around hunting for needles?'

I shook my head. 'Cygnus insisted to have me change into this.'

He almost spat the water he was drinking onto my face. Fortunately this is where the benefit of having an umbrella around comes in handy. 'Cygnus? That heiress of the Shinsoo Group and the owner of the school _paid_ the uniform _for_ you?'

I closed the umbrella and shook it to the side to remove the water on it. 'I told her it was okay on wearing the black one.'

'How much luck do you have on you? Spare some to me!'

The next day, from Francis, I've learnt several "Japanese" words when I had asked him about the meaning of "tsundere" written in one of the manga. 'Soon-there- _reh_ ,' he corrected my pronunciation. 'Seriously? You're an Otaku and you don't know it?' he was appalled when I asked him the meaning of the word. 'It is a personality of a person who treats people coldly but is actually kind-hearted on the inside. Fine, I'll teach you a few more Japanese words.' And so, I've learnt how to say the words "idiot", "cute", and "I" in Japanese, though I won't be using them. I wondered what went through Francis's mind when I asked him the meaning of that one word.

At the beginning of the third week, trouble brewed. I must say that I was excited for it as the last was a boring week with nothing much going on.

It started with a phone call right after I left the house from the blue haired student president. I never liked him, so when I saw his face popped out on the screen, I let out a heavy sigh. Nineheart must be asking me to do some work again. 'Yes?' I said to the phone when I answered the call, trying to not sound too displeased about his call.

'Evan, we have a stalker in the midst us,' he said solemnly.

'Pardon?' I raised an eyebrow as I headed towards the bridge.

'And he's not a regular stalker. He has malicious intent. Please come to my office, so we can talk.'

'Now you hold on a second. When do _you_ have an office?' I asked. 'The only office I know in the school is Cygnus's office and the teacher's room.'

'I help Miss Cygnus in her work. So, her office is also my office. I'll be waiting for you, Evan.' Then he hung up. Now that is something new. I slid the phone into my pocket and headed towards the school. It was half an hour before school started. I placed my bag onto my seat when Francis headed towards me.

'Hello my friend,' he was all grins, although I cannot see his eyes as his green fringes were covering it. He sure seemed happy despite having the look of despair almost every day in school. 'Where are you heading to?'

'Cygnus's office. Student president is looking for me.'

'Why?'

'I have no idea, but he sounds serious. See you later, Francis,' I waved at him and proceeded to the end of the hallway.

 _I wonder what's going on,_ Mir spoke to me through telepathy. _Who, among us, would be a stalker? And what for?_

I have no idea, Mir. Maybe getting information from the students? He didn't sound like it was a dire situation, so it might be some small matter erupting for a brief period of time. Behind the office door were Hawkeye standing beside the couch where Oz and Irena were sitting on, and the opposite of them were Cygnus taking a sip out of her cup of tea, and Nineheart standing beside her. I feel that he should wear a monocle, for sometimes it struck me as weird to see him without one. Maybe monocle wasn't a trend in this world.

'Hey Evan,' Hawkeye greeted me upon entering. 'So Nineheart called you too, huh.'

'Yeah,' I nodded.

'Hello, Evan,' Irena nodded at me with a smile.

'Good morning, Evan,' Cygnus smiled as she gently put down the porcelain teacup.

'Good morning!' Oz said cheerfully.

'Good morning.' I smiled at them.

'Welcome,' Nineheart nodded at my presence. 'Are you ready to hear the stalker case?'

'Sure. What happened?'

'It happened this morning. A girl found a dreadful, threatening letter on her desk.'

'Like, a moment ago?' I've learnt how to use the language of this world that tends to exaggerate things.

He nodded. 'Who was it?' Hawkeye asked.

'The victim is a second grader named Orchid. Do you know her?' Nineheart directed the question to me.

Do I know her? Yes. She is the leader of Black Wings, an organization to turn the world into chaos while reviving Black Mage, and she is also one of his commanders. A while ago she was attacked by her own kin and the Resistance in Edelstein took care of her. However, she returned to where she was before after I checked on the revamped Evolving System, and the hologram portrayed was her brother, Lotus. Upon unable to receive a proper answer of why the hologram (also named as ESS) has the look of Lotus, she attacked the system. The Evolving System took her as a threat and attacked her with lasers, and I happened to find her there as I figured she had ran there because of how ESS looked like, narrowly saving her life because I was registered as a user in its system, thus reverting the system from attack mode to standby as it fixed itself. The last I heard, she was still unconscious, mumbling her brother's name as she lay on the bed, heavily injured while under the Resistance's care.

Though, I cannot say her identity as the Black Mage's commander as the others in the room would frown at me and look at me as if I was weird. Apart from the video Elwin had shown me before I started my quest in Shinsoo International School, I have yet to get a glimpse of Seoul's Orchid. 'No.'

'Hm, you don't watch TV, I assume?' Nineheart seemed to have acknowledge me from that. 'Neither do I, but at least I know she's famous.'

This is something new. Maybe I should ask Prefect to show me how to use the TV in his house to identify this. Sometimes he would come back just to watch some show aired on it, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I was busy doing things back in the Maple World.

'She's not just famous – she's the _most_ famous star these days,' Hawkeye told me. 'She rarely comes to school, and when she does, the entire school is thrown into chaos.'

'Like this incident about the threatening letter?' I frowned. Does she get that much hate in this world every time she set foot in school?

'Not like that. I mean by the other students would crowd around her.'

'Ah.' I nodded. Famous people often had that coming. Forget about people, famous items or maps would often get crowded, too. Like Sahel 2 and Mysterious Path 3, as well as the Dream World's Corrupted Cygnus equipment drops. I have a set of Dragon Tail Mage from her through blood and tears. Poor Cygnus clones got murdered endlessly along with her knights to get those items when Dream World arrived. I wonder if the present Cygnus gets goosebumps when the Dream World's Cygnus clones were killed.

'But she's not a good person,' Oz added.

'That's true. Last time I saw her eating alone, so I sat next to her and asked if she wanted to eat with me as I winked.' I was impressed. Hawkeye took the advantage to flirt with her. Among everyone, _her_. 'She shot me a side glance and said, "Get away from me." If looks could kill.' He shuddered.

'Anyone else would react the same if they had to deal with you,' Irena replied, applying salt to his wounds.

Hawkeye played it cool. 'Hmph, you don't know what you're talking about. Outside the school, I'm popular in my own right!' I guess, at some point, it is true. Hawkeye is rather popular in Maple World for certain reasons I have yet to comprehend. Maybe it was because of his carefree attitude that made everyone seemed to be fond of him. I don't seem to hate him, but from some Cygnus Knight's responses, he is a kind but an overconfident fellow.

'But not inside the school because you're so sleazy,' Irena smirked.

'Gah, Irena!' he scowled at her.

'Enough with your banter,' Nineheart said sternly. Both of them turned silent as Oz giggled silently. The student president sighed. 'I can't say that I like her, but anything that happens at my school is my responsibility.' He shifted his gaze to me. Here it comes again. 'Evan, could you go to the second grade classroom and get the threatening letter?'

'Alright. I'll be back.' I couldn't escape from this chains of fate that bounds me onto doing Nineheart's request in order to maintain the peace of the school. He tended to be overprotective of things he have.

'The quicker we start searching for the suspect, the better. The suspect could be planning to escape even as we speak.'

I left the room. _Orchid was being stalked? I wonder if she was okay from the incident about Evolving System. I hope she's getting better. Don't you think so, Master?_ Mir said as I headed towards the stairs at the other end of the hallway.

I guess so, but I'm not too fond of her. We never held a decent conversation, and I didn't like the idea that she was attempting to revive Black Mage. He is alive and kicking right now, though the other heroes, adventurers, and Cygnus Knights would make swift attempts to remove anything that is out of order back in Maple World.

I slid the door open to the second grade's classroom. 'Hello?' I said, looking around. Orchid was sitting on the second seat from the front, her table had what seemed to be a pile of books and a letter stacked on it. She had her usual twin tails tied with white bunny hair ties, the blazer worn as a cape around her back. Unfortunately it wasn't black, or she would look like the splitting image of Maple World's Orchid. She seemed to be too busy poking her smartphone. Cassandra was the one who greeted me instead.

'Hello, transfer student. What brings you here?' Cassandra asked from across the room. 'You may enter, by the way.'

I nodded. 'I'm looking for Orchid…'

Orchid glanced up from her phone and swiftly returned her gaze onto the gadget. 'There she is,' Cassandra pointed at her in displeased. I supposed Cassandra didn't like her. Judging from Orchid's attitude, it didn't give me a good first impression about her, too. I entered the classroom and stood by her desk. Her title was "The Idol".

'Unless you have something to say to me, stop bothering me,' Orchid said without looking away from her smartphone.

'I was sent by the student president to investigate about the threatening letter,' I said, hoping to get a response from her. She placed her phone down and examined me.

'The student president _sent_ you. What took you so long?' She sounded like I was late for a whole hour. If teleportation is allowed in here, I supposed this school wouldn't require my assistance of the existence of Dusts. She showed me the letter and feigned innocent. 'I didn't come to school to get threatened,' she said dolefully. 'What have I done to deserve this? I cannot fathom who would threaten such a cute, pretty, and charming girl like me.'

I had trouble to resist the urge to cough at her last sentence, but it would be rude of me to do so. A girl who had to emphasize how "cute, pretty, and charming" they are isn't cute, pretty, and charming. Even so, there are other Maplers who are a fan of her because of her appearance. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.

'I'm sorry to hear this, Orchid. What did the letter say?'

'What did the letter say?' she repeated my question and snorted. 'You can take it and read it for yourself. Find out who wrote the letter and don't ever let them get near me!' She pointed the letter in disgust. I took the letter from her desk and nodded at her.

'Will do.' I said, then she picked up her smartphone and ignored my presence completely. I guess famous people of both worlds would ignore things that wouldn't benefit them. I left the classroom after thanking Cassandra and headed towards Cygnus's office. Before entering the office, I took a peek at the item inside my bag. It was named "Fearsome Threatening Letter 1". Does that mean that there would be more? The description said, "Threatening letter with runny ink making it impossible to read."

'You came back,' Nineheart said when I opened the door. I nodded and handed him the letter I've gotten from Orchid. 'Is this the threatening letter?' he examined the damp envelope before taking it away from my hands. The others looked at the letter placed on the table.

'Aside from the slight dampness, it looks like a simple love letter,' Oz replied when she saw the torn heart-shaped sticker that had kept the envelope sealed. 'Maybe Orchid was overreacting.' Then she stuffed her white lollipop with a pink swirl into her mouth.

Irena nodded. 'That's possible, given her temperament.'

'I wonder what it's written inside that is horrifying for her,' Cygnus said curiously.

'Well, we can decide that after we read the letter. Let's open the letter, but try not to get your fingerprints on it,' Nineheart said as he held a pair of calipers taken out of his pockets. I wonder what else he had inside his pockets. I've learnt about fingerprints last week in science class. It is a print that is different from everyone else that identifies everyone, and it is as unique as DNA sequence patterns. It was interesting to learn, even though it was from Arkarium.

Nineheart gently opened the letter with the pair of calipers, then pulled out the paper inside it. It was folded into half, so Nineheart used extreme caution to open it while everyone else was curious of the contents as they surround the table. Most of the words on the letter were smudged, and the only ones which are clear formed the sentence, "Dearest Orchid, must you be couple will, yours truly." It looked to me that it was love letter gone wrong, probably some water had poured on it. But others think otherwise.

Oz gasped at the sight of its content. 'Oh my god, this is wrong!'

'This is extreme,' Irena shook her head in disgust. 'Orchid may not be a good girl, but she doesn't deserve a letter like this.'

Nineheart nodded at Irena's words. 'This is really a threatening letter. She isn't overreacting at all.'

Oz was angry and pulled out her lollipop from her mouth. 'This is unforgiveable!' she raised the lollipop up. 'I swear on my grandfather's name that I will apprehend this stalker!' I find it funny that she had to swear on her grandfather's name for such a case.

Irena chuckled. 'Do you really have to swear on your grandfather's name?'

'Some serious psychopath did this. They smudged the ink on purpose to further input terror into the reader,' Oz said, acting as a detective. I don't think it was a psychopath who did this though. Once I read off the dictionary, psychopath meant someone who have a mental illness which made the person to lack of emotions and empathy towards others, thus making irresponsible actions for the sake of it. They are usually charming and make good first impression towards others, but dishonest, self-centered, and pushes the blame to other people when something goes awry. They are also known to make many plans and a perfectionist. The work of that letter isn't perfect. I suppose Oz meant sociopath instead, which meant an individual who had suffered from a traumatic event in the past which made them easily agitated and violent at times. They are, however, in possess with emotions and they can form ties with other humans, although this would prove difficult to do so. They tend to work on things in a disorganized, spontaneous way. What float their boats, I guess.

'Fortunately for us, I see some fingerprints left on the sticker used to close the letter.' Oz added, then looked at me. Whoa, how can she see the fingerprints on the letter? I peered closer. I didn't see anything like that. 'Evan, could you go to the science lab and pick up something to collect the fingerprints? Some aluminum powder and a brush should suffice.'

'Sure.'

'Thank you. Stalkers are a common enemy for women! I won't rest until I catch this stalker!' She raised her lollipop up again. Irena sighed while Cygnus chuckled at her action.

'I'm bored. Can I follow you too, Evan?' Hawkeye uttered. 'I don't like to sit around doing nothing while you do all the work.'

'Sure.' I raised an eyebrow at him. What had gotten into him? He grinned and followed me out. When he passed by my class, he saw someone attractive and left me as I headed up the stairs. He seemed happy upon flirting with one of my classmates, so I said nothing and headed towards the third floor's science lab.

 _Wouldn't you be late to class, Master?_ Mir asked in concern. _There's only ten more minutes before class starts!_

I think we can do this in less than ten minutes.

I opened the door to the science lab to find Elwin sitting inside. 'What brings you here to the science lab? It's not cleared of monsters yet,' he said after I closed the door behind me.

'I need to find aluminum powder and brush to work on the fingerprint on a threatening letter,' I said while I looked through the glass cupboards for the items Oz entrusted me to find.

'A threatening letter?' Elwin said amusedly. 'Many eventful things seemed to be taking place in this school.'

'It seems so.' I frowned after searching all of glass cupboards in the room. Where is the aluminum powder placed?

'Can't find anything you want? Try searching through the Dust Zone. I'll permit you to enter since you are required to search for something, but don't go around entering Dust Zones when you aren't required, alright?' Elwin let out a heavy sigh. I looked at him and he pointed at the portal formed at the back of the lab. 'If anyone sees you popping in and out of nowhere from a place, they will be alarmed.'

'I know, I know.' I opened the door to let Mir into the laboratory. As usual, the doorframe was scratched by its body. I sighed at the sight of it, then walked towards the portal after closing the door behind it. 'We got hunting to do, Mir. Let's go.'

 _All right!_ Mir said cheerfully.

'Happy hunting!' Elwin said from behind.

By the portal I stopped as I noticed something interesting on the blackboard. On the right side was the periodic table, but on the left was some information written about a picture that looked like Luminous's Ray of Redemption, where he summons a staff to heal everyone in his party in a certain area. The map had purposely shrunk the writings into what looked like random scribbling, so I couldn't see what the writing was about.

 _Master?_

'Evan?'

'Ah, sorry. I got a little absorbed by something else. I'll be back.' I waved at Elwin and entered the portal. After the first incident with sun-woman Queen Areda, the Dusts spawns in these zones had reduced dramatically. I had to use around 5 minutes to find all of the required items as some of the Dusts do not even have the items I need. I came out sighing heavily.

'What is it? Couldn't find what you want?' Elwin asked as he approached my leg. 'You can always enter again.'

'The spawn is too low. It's not fun. I wished Queen Areda would come back and increase the spawns in the area.'

Elwin barked, 'Are you crazy? That would make other students even more in danger! It was good days when she left.'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm going back now. See you later, Elwin.' I opened the door to let Mir pass again, then I ran downstairs with six small jars of aluminum powders and a brush for fingerprinting purposes.

'Did you bring everything I needed?' Oz asked. I nodded and handed over the aluminum powders and a small brush. She looked at the items in surprised. 'Wow, this is more than enough, Evan. Thank you so much. I can collect the fingerprints now. We may not get a whole fingerprint, but even a partial should be enough to catch the culprit. I'll show you what the leader of Mystery Novel Club is capable of.' She raised her head high.

'I'm counting on you on this, Oz,' Nineheart nodded at her.

'By the way, where's Hawkeye?' Irena asked me. 'I don't see him after he left with you.'

'Well, knowing him, he probably went to flirt again,' I replied, shrugging. 'He's probably back in class now.'

'I'll let you know when the results come out. Could you return to the classroom and wait? You don't want to miss your class, right?' Oz told me with a big grin on her face.

'How about you? Are you going to stay here until something comes out? How about your studies?' I asked her back.

'Don't worry – I can always rely on Nineheart for notes!' she whispered.

'I heard that. I won't let you copy my notes for today,' Nineheart glared.

'Aw, c'mon Nineheart. We're friends, right? I'm doing this for your sake to catch the stalker!' Oz gave him the puppy eyes.

'Didn't you just swear on your grandfather's name to catch the stalker?' Irena giggled.

'I will contact the teacher to leave some notes for you,' Cygnus assured her, and pulled out her phone.

'Miss Cygnus, you don't need to –' Nineheart attempted to stop her, but it was too late as she had already on the call.

I laughed at the scene. 'Well, if you say so, I'll excuse myself,' I grinned and left. Nineheart wanted to stop me by the looks of his extended hand, but I waved at him with a grin and left the room. Fortunately when I walked back, the teacher has yet to arrive in the classroom. A female classmate of mine was wiping the back of the classroom with a mop. Bully seemed to be in a daze on his seat. Two other male classmates were talking with each other. Francis was reading a manga.

'Evan, why did the student president wanted to see you today?' Francis looked up from his seat when I walk past his seat.

'A second grader named Orchid is being threatened by a stalker.'

'A stalker?!' Francis was being unusually angry. 'Who dares to stalk _my_ Orchid? Who is it?' His love for Orchid seemed to have transferred to this world as well (I just remembered from the video that he was stalking – peering from the walls at Orchid). I remembered one of the Xenon class Maplers who were given options to look somewhat similar to Lotus (and Orchid if the character is female) told me that Francis in Maple World was confused of seeing him as he said he was "too alike to Orchid". So, the letter _must_ be from him.

'Yeah…' I narrowed my eyes at him. He frowned at my expression. 'You see, Orchid had gotten a letter with most of the words were smudged this morning, and it was considered a threatening letter to her.'

He tried to not be upset about the fact but his face muscles were weak against his real feelings. 'So, the ink on the letter smudged,' he said. I could tell he that was horrified about the fact that his letter ended up being a threatening letter to the one he loves.

'Yes, and what's written now looked disturbing. Though, I would say it's a poorly made love letter to her.'

'H-ha ha, yeah, it surely is, right? Why would she get a threatening letter?' Francis forced a laugh. He was sweating a lot and shivering. His face turned red for some reasons.

'Oz said she would collect the fingerprints and catch the culprit.' I wonder what this sentence would make him react.

'F-f-fingerprints?!' he chuckled nervously. He really is the one who wrote the letter. I guess the letter was smudged by his sweaty palms. 'N-no way. She's not a CSI. How is she going to collect the fingerprints anyway?'

'CSI?' I raised an eyebrow.

'C-crime scene investigator. Don't you watch TV? There's a show about how a group of people solve crimes.'

'I don't. Maybe I should give it a try when I go back. Anyway, don't look so nervous,' I patted his shoulder with a grin. 'It isn't _you_ who did it, right?'

'H-ha ha. O-of course not,' he chuckled nervously and returned to his manga. I bet his thoughts are in a mess. Sorry, Francis. It was fun to see your horrified expressions.

Chief Stan entered the classroom. 'Everyone, sit down. I have an announcement to make,' he said as he headed towards the front of the class. It must be about the threatening letter case. Looks like Cygnus had told him about it to excuse Oz from being absent in class to search for the fingerprints. He cleared his throat after he placed his books on the wooden pedestal. 'Now everyone, things have been quite chaotic at school, and some of you have been less good.'

I glanced at Francis. He was mumbling something under his breath. Have I terrorized him too much?

'Just so you know, crimes _are_ crimes. Writing threatening letters is not an innocent prank,' Mr. Stan said sternly as he eyed at everyone in the class. I was surprised he haven't stare at Francis as he was the most suspicious one in the class as of right now. 'Whoever is responsible for such a mischief will have to bring their parents to school and brace for possible suspension.'

'S-suspension?' Francis whispered loudly enough for me to hear. This wouldn't end well, would it?

'Threatening letters?' the boy seated in front of me shook his head. 'That's wrong.'

'Who would do such a thing?' his friend seated in front of him scowled.

The boy in front of me shrugged, then raised his hand. Mr. Stan nodded at him, giving him permission to speak up. 'If they're caught, will their names be released on the Internet?'

His friend shook his head at his suggestion. 'That's not enough. Their pictures should also be posted on the Internet, so everyone would be wary of them.'

Francis gasped loudly at the terror that may befall him if he was ever caught, and then there was a loud flop behind me. Everyone turned to look at the direction. Francis had fallen off his chair and landed on the ground. I poked him with my umbrella. He seemed to be breathing, but he was unconscious. 'Teacher, Francis fainted!' the boy in front of me raised his hand again.

I let out a sigh. 'Evan, bring you friend to the nurse's office.' Chief Stan narrowed his eyes at me. Did he still remember the time where I spoke of his son running away again? 'You know where it is, right?'

I nodded at him. 'Yes, I know.' Then I threw Francis's arm over my neck and dragged him painfully up to the fourth floor. I was surprised that Francis wasn't awake even though his feet were constantly in contact with the stair steps. I took a short breather when I got to the front of the nurse's office, then knocked on the door.

'Come in.' Hilla's voice said from the inside. I slid the door open to see her tying her red hair into the usual bun. 'What is it? She asked when she saw Francis.

'He had fainted, miss. He was fine while he was in the classroom though.' I dragged him towards one of the bed. 'Mr. Stan told me to bring him here.'

'I see. He may rest here until he wakes up,' she muttered, then produced a purple compact this time and viewed her face in different angles. Why is she even a nurse in this school anyway? I don't think I've ever seen her doing her job other than giving the "all-cure" iodine to the students who was injured during Magnus's Physical Education from Hell. I returned to the class afterwards to Mr. Stan's English education class.

During lunch break, Nineheart called me. 'Evan, the culprit had turned himself in. This was easier than we thought. Your oppressive interrogation technique must have worked,' he said with a praise.

'I have nothing of the sort. So, was it Francis?'

'So you did. Come to the office now. We'll continue our conversation there.'

As I left the classroom, I received a text from Hawkeye. "Guys come clean now haha. Who is hotter? Orchid or Irena, be honest!"

I replied, "Not interested." It was followed by Eckhart's, "Who cares." Before I could put it back into my pocket, the phone let out another short beep. It was from Mihile. "It's not cool to talk about appearances behind one's back, Hawkeye." Mihile was actually right about that. Then Hawkeye swiftly replied to all three of us, "You guys are no fun…"

'You came, Evan,' Nineheart smiled when he saw me entering the office. Hawkeye scowled at me, his arms crossed. He must be still angry about the texts. Standing in front of Oz and Irena, who both had their hands on their hips, stood Francis, who was beet red and sweating as if he was standing in a desert. In front of him were Cygnus and Nineheart. 'We can start the interrogation now.' He looked at Francis.

'So Francis,' Cygnus sat on her couch, her face stern. Though, I wouldn't say it was stern as she was born to have a kind look. 'You wrote the threatening letter to Orchid.'

'It wasn't a threatening letter – it was meant to be a love letter!' Francis quickly explained. 'My hands become sweaty when I'm nervous, that's why the ink was smudged…' then he looked at Nineheart pleadingly. 'You'll keep this a secret from the teachers, right?' The strategist said nothing and Francis looked at everyone else in the room. 'You guys will keep this a secret, right?'

Oz scowled. 'No way!' _Everyone_ agreed that the letter was composed by a _psychopath_.' Except for me. I have yet to say a word about the letter being written by a psychopath. It was just a mere poorly made letter in my defense.

'No, it's not!' Francis protested at her. 'The original message is this.' He took the original letter and rewrote its contents under our stare with a pen. 'Here. Surely this would prove my innocence!' he handed the paper to Oz, who took it and placed it on the tea table as the we huddled around the table to see the real contents that was written on the paper.

"Dearest Orchid, you must know what's in my heart so I'm writing you this letter. I'll make sure that you'll be my girflriend. We will be a great couple, won't we? Not sure? That's alright, I know we will. Yours truly."

He wrote "girlfriend" wrong. 'See, what do you think?' Francis said after a while. No one said a word for a moment, to his surprise, and he fidgeted nervously as we stared at him, disappointed of the contents. It surely didn't fit the image of the person who wrote the letter at all.

Irena was the first to break the silence with a sigh. 'Um, did you really think that she'd like this love letter?' she asked Francis straightforwardly.

Hawkeye added, 'The threatening letter is much better.'

'Wow…' Oz took the paper up to see the letter even clearly. 'Even your spelling skills are terrible.'

Francis became nervous again. 'N-no way, I thought my love letter was perfect!' Then he slumped to the ground in disappointment after Oz's comment, both of his hands tugging at his hood, hoping it would cover his failure, but it could barely cover his face. Cygnus didn't seem to know what to say and she merely looked at him. As for Nineheart, well, he was relief that it wasn't a threatening letter at all, for the culprit looked so fragile at the moment.


	10. Chapter 8 (FS Chapter 2)

There was a moment of silence for the fallen Francis who realized how grave his mistakes were. Afterwards he asked everyone, 'Then please tell me what kind of letter do women like? Everyone, please help me correct my mistakes!'

I haven't gotten a single clue as I do not write letters to any women in particular. The girls raked their minds to give him a healthy suggestion to send a better love letter to Orchid. Hawkeye was as confused as Francis, for I doubted he had a thought crossing by to write a letter to a girl he had found interest in. I glanced at Nineheart. He seemed uninterested for such a topic and merely kept quiet while standing beside Cygnus.

'Well, I think you should get rid of the male bravado, for a start,' Irena said.

'I agree. Love letters should be pure and romantic,' Oz nodded, moving the lollipop stick sticking out of her mouth up and down.

'And the last statement should be impressive enough to move the girl,' Cygnus added.

Francis looked at them, confused. 'Ugh, listening to you three talk makes my head spin. Can't I get some sort of sample?'

'Well, why don't you get some romance novels from the reading room? They should help,' Oz suggested with a smile.

'Oh, that's a great idea!' Francis nodded, then he looked at me. 'Evan, could you go find some romance novels in the reading room? I need to stay here and write a letter of apology.'

I doubt I could reject this. 'Sure. I'll be back soon.'

'Well, it doesn't seem like I would be of any help. I'm getting myself some grub,' Hawkeye excused himself. 'I'll drop by afterwards.'

The both of us left the office. Hawkeye sighed heavily as soon as the door behind us was shut. 'Can't he just man up and confess to her straight in the face?' Hawkeye asked me as we walked away from the room. 'It would be much easier to do so than writing a cheesy letter.'

I shrugged. 'Francis isn't as brave as you are, Hawkeye.'

He laughed. 'Yeah. I wonder if Orchid would even accept him, if she rejects someone like _me_.'

I grinned. 'Hey, you never know.'

We both parted ways in the middle of the first floor corridor as Hawkeye headed to get lunch. I saw Mihile and Eckhart standing by the entrance as Hawkeye ran towards them before walking into the cafeteria. Mihile waved at me when he noticed me. I walked towards the second floor along with Mir, wondering how the romance novels are like and how it would improve Francis's writing skills just by reading it.

 _Master, I smell Elwin past this door,_ Mir said as we stopped at the door leading towards the library. _Will we need to fight again?_

Maybe. I shrugged and opened the door. Miss Appropriation was behind it, to my surprise. 'Oh… I'm sorry,' she said timidly. I let her out first as usual, and she nodded at me before leaving the room. I entered the room and saw Elwin popping out from the back of a pile of books. Mir's scales scratching on the doorframe made a short, awful sound. I closed the door right after he had entered and crouched in front of Elwin.

'You're as busy as ever, Evan,' Elwin shook his head with a sigh. 'What brings you here now?'

'I'm looking for romance novels. Have you read any of them in here?'

'Romance novels? Of course I tried them,' he scoffed at the term. 'They were so melodramatic that they made me cringe, but I guess women in this world like that kind of stuff.'

'That doesn't sound good,' I bit my lower lip. 'Well, I'm new to reading this kind of genre, so do you have any suggestions?'

He shook his head, then as if remembering something, he ran under one of the tables in the room and came out pulling a piece of paper with his mouth. I walked towards the table as he seemed to have trouble pulling the large piece of paper with his small size of now. 'What's this?' I asked as I picked up the piece of paper. On it was written several titles of some books.

'It's the list of this month's bestselling novels. You can find the novels from monsters in the reading room,' Elwin replied.

'Why did the Dusts take them away?' I narrowed my eyes at him. 'Aren't you supposed to do something about it?'

'Hey, I cannot prevent them from taking away certain books!' Elwin protested by barking. 'Maybe the girls were jealous of the characters in the novels and spawned Dusts from that negative feeling!'

I blinked at him. 'Do girls of this world do that?'

'Well… I don't know,' he avoided my gaze. 'But that might be the most logical explanation I can ever give you of why the Dusts take them. My job is to move the Dusts into Dust Zones so they wouldn't be in contact to any students in this school that may have an immense amount of negative feelings inside them.'

'Right.' I looked at the list. Some of the titles were ridiculous. "You must be from the West", "Wolf Romance"… wait, does that mean a human girl fell in love with a wolf? I looked at the title wryly. I didn't know girls like bestiality. There were also "My Love from the Temple", "Losers in Paris" and "Sudden Secret". Maybe I should judge them when I actually receive the books and read a few pages of them rather than looking at the title.

'Happy hunting! There are a total of five titles.' Elwin then kept a look out at the door.

'Remember Mir, don't burn down those books,' I said before stepping into the portal. 'I don't know what those Dusts would be holding, but I only need five titles from them, okay?'

 _I'll try my best, Master. Using Flame Wheel or Blaze wouldn't burn down the items they drop._

I nodded and entered the portal located at the end of the room, located right beside of a bookshelf filled with fiction fantasy books. I glanced past a few books and found nothing of the books from the list Elwin gave me. Upon entering I remembered the spawn of the Dust Zone was low. I sighed at the low monster count. 'Let's get over this quickly, okay? I can't be bothered to kill these few monsters.'

 _Right, Master!_

All of the Dusts inside apparently drop books, but sometimes it wasn't what I wanted, so I had to pick up every single book that I found and toss it out when it wasn't one of the titles written on the paper Elwin gave me while being careful of not destroying the books scattered on the floor and platforms. I also had to check out Mir's platform above me to find the books I needed. Before leaving the portal with all of the books in hand, I realized the timer was down to 4:29. That certainly took a while.

I thanked Elwin before leaving the room and headed downstairs towards the end of the hallway. 'Oh Evan,' Francis looked up from the table as the girls aided him into writing an apology letter. Several crumpled papers rested around the table. 'Did you get me some romance novels?' I carried the novels and placed them onto the table. Nineheart was nowhere to be found.

'Nice pick,' Oz nodded as she examined the titles.

'I've read this one before…' Irena said as she picked up "Losers in Paris" from the stack.

'Thanks Evan, you're the best!' Francis smiled. 'I'll refer to these novels to write a good love letter.'

'Good luck Francis,' I nodded at his determination. 'I'm going to get some lunch. I'm hungry already. You should, too.'

'Maybe afterwards… Here, what do you think about this letter?' he showed the girls the draft he had been working on. Oz shook her head.

'Another misspelling!' she cried, pointing at one of the words.

'I think you should read the books…' Irena sighed.

'The last sentence isn't moving enough,' Cygnus replied.

'Ugh…' Francis was frustrated at his work. I should leave him alone for now. I headed towards the cafeteria and brought a red bean bun and some hamburgers for Mir. I stuffed the hamburgers into my bag and stumbled upon the male Chief Cygnus Knights as I was heading towards the vending machine close to the entrance of the cafeteria.

'You traitor!' Hawkeye scowled as he pointed at the red bean bun I was holding. I raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by that?

'Get some milk. It tastes the best with it,' Mihile gave me a thumbs-up.

'I heard you forced the culprit of the threatening letter to give himself in,' Eckhart said. 'Is it true?'

'No I didn't. Did Nineheart tell you that?' I inserted paper money into the machine. 'He turned himself by his own.'

'It wasn't a threatening letter, but a lame love letter,' Hawkeye told them with a scoff. 'The first grader was trying to personate into a braver self.'

'Your classmate then?' Mihile asked.

I poked the button for milk, taking on Mihile's suggestion. 'Yeah.' The milk carton fell into the take-out port and I lowered myself to take it out. 'By the way, why weren't you guys there?'

'Not interested,' both Mihile and Eckhart said in sync. Hawkeye chuckled at both of their responses and the Chief Cygnus Knight of Light and Dark glared at each other, grumbling.

I took a bite from my red bean bun. 'I see.'

'How's his work going so far?' Hawkeye asked me. 'Did you sent him the love novels?'

'I think he's reading them right now. Oz, Irena and Cygnus weren't letting him go without a good letter in hand.'

Mihile chuckled. 'Well, good luck to your friend.' And the three of them left the cafeteria. I swiftly took my simple lunch and went to a corner to feed Mir with the hamburgers I brought. Red bean bun and milk weren't the best I've tasted, but it has a unique taste when eaten together. It was a simple meal, and I could see why Mihile liked it. I received a text from Oz. "Francis is writing his letter of apology but he's gotten all the spellings all wrong! What should I do?" The bell rang after I've fed Mir its fifth hamburger. It quickly got the food into its mouth and I tossed the wrappers into a nearby thrash can, then ran towards my classroom. Coincidentally I saw Francis back in class. I wondered if he was done reading all those novels.

After school, he slumped onto the table. 'Ugh… My friend, why is it so hard to write a love letter? They kept on rejecting my ideas…'

I received a text from Nineheart. "More reading will help reduce misspellings. Come, bring me the books, Evan."

'Were you having spelling problems, Francis?' I asked as I put the phone into my pants pocket. He managed a nod. 'Nineheart is helping you out. Bring the books along. He should be in the reading room.'

Both of us headed upstairs. I helped Francis took three of the novels from his hands. As I have expected, Nineheart was there, all alone at the last table while working on his documents. 'So you're here,' he glanced at the books we were holding. 'Are these the novels for research?'

'Yes…' Francis sighed heavily.

'Don't worry. The both of us will help you. Right?' Nineheart flashed me an evil grin. Darn you, Nineheart. It seems like I would be stuck with them for a while. 'I've picked some books for you, too.' Nineheart pointed at the stack of books in front of him. Francis's jaw dropped. It must be at least be ten books tall. This would be one hell of a day. Both of us sit across the student president and I took the advantage to text both Elwin and Lily to tell them that they didn't need to prepare my dinner. Afterwards, the three of us buried ourselves to read these romance books.

I've barely manage myself to finish three of the romance novels before the sun fell to the horizon. As Elwin had said, the romance novels were cringe-worthy, and they were extremely predictable after a while. It wouldn't be my favorite genre of books. Francis was yawning while reading the last few pages of the first book he held. Nineheart closed "Sudden Secret" that was on his hands and noticed the change outside. 'We cannot stay in school much longer. Let's move to a different area.'

'Where to?' I asked.

He smiled. 'Follow me.'

We took half of the stack of books Nineheart had handpicked along with the five top bestseller romance novels and entered the street that was hidden away from the mini map. He stopped at the entrance of a restaurant named "Kennedy's Fried Potatoes". _Wow, I can smell the scent of potato and bacon from within!_ Mir told me when Nineheart opened the door to the restaurant. _I want some of them! Master, please?_

I'll try. There were many citizens walking up and down on the street, so it would be too risky for me to buy something and feed it to Mir right away. Speaking of which, wouldn't Mir be seen right now? The effects of the potion should be weakening soon. I entered after Francis and got ourselves a seat in the restaurant. Mir remained outside as the door weren't big enough for it to move in.

'Let's order some food and drinks before we started again, shall we?' Nineheart suggested. 'It should keep our mind fresh.'

'These romance novels weren't what I think they are…' Francis muttered and nodded at his suggestion.

We asked our orders separately. The woman by the counter frowned at me when I asked for twenty pieces of "hash brown" and bacon. It was apparently made out of potatoes. After receiving my order, I slipped out of the restaurant with the food and headed towards the nearby alleyway. Mir's illusion potion effects coincidentally faded right after I did so. I looked around. There weren't anyone around. 'Here, the food you want,' I handed it one of the hash brown and bacon. It was as big as the size of my fist. Mir sniffed on it and stuck out its tongue to get the food into its mouth. I searched through my bag for another vial of illusion potion I remembered getting a week before.

 _It's delicious, Master! You should try it for yourself, too!_

It certainly smells nice. I gave it a few more and finally found the vial buried deep inside my bag. Sometimes having too big of a bag with too many slots could prove fatal when searching for something. While it was eating its seventh piece, I took a look around us again. There wasn't anyone there. I applied the illusion potion onto Mir's skin by pouring on its back to make sure their effects would apply evenly onto its body.

After a good five minutes giving food to Mir, I tossed the box that once contained food into the nearby bin. 'Sorry Mir, but you'll need to stay outside for quite a while. Nineheart pulled me into this mess.'

 _It's all right, Master. I can bear with this._

I nodded gratefully at it and entered the restaurant once more. 'Where were you?' Nineheart asked sharply. 'I thought you had ran away.'

'I wouldn't.' I placed my bag on one of the empty seats. 'I'll get myself some coffee. We will be here for a while, won't we?'

The same woman in the counter frowned deeply as I asked for a hamburger with hash brown and bacon with an addition of a cup of coffee. I think she is petrified at the fact that I could eat so much.

After a simple dinner, the three of us worked our way on the remaining novels placed on the white, rectangular table. The waiters and waitresses who walked past us to clean the mess left by other customers seemed to be confused by our presence, perhaps thinking, why are there three male high school students sitting in the restaurant for a long period of time while reading romance novels? I had to drag myself through every story. All of them had a cliché flow. The main female character and the main male character met each other at the beginning, and the main female character would never fail to fall in love with him, no matter how horrible his personality or attitude towards the girl would be. Then something would happen towards the middle of the story, and both characters would fall in love together. Afterwards, there would be something that seemed to get in their way of love, and both of them would brave through it together. All the while I seemed to cheer for the fact that they wouldn't overcome with their "power of love" but it failed. A mushy, happy ending exist at the end of the book. It seemed similar to most of the action manga I have brought under Francis's suggestions, except it wasn't about love. I wonder if the romance manga would have the same thing as well.

I fell asleep on my seventh book for the day, which was "You must be from the West", with the book covering half of my face. It must had fallen onto my face when I changed my gesture on reading the books. Nineheart was the one who woke me up by shaking my hand. I lifted the book up from my face and lowered my head, frowning at him. 'You're supposed to be reading them, not sleeping!' he scowled.

I noticed that there were an additional two plastic cups of coffee placed in front of him. 'Seems like you're having trouble reading them too,' I smirked while pointing at the dozen of plastic cups near him.

'At least I was making effort to keep my eyes peeled for the next page,' he said, returning his gaze to the novel he was holding. It was close to the last page. 'I thought your hobby is reading books. What happened?'

'I never knew romance books were this cliché, melodramatic and boring at the same time,' I told him. 'I've never read them before.' I yawned and put the book down to the table, looking at Francis. His head was on the table, his expression was clearly bored while reading "Wolf Romance". 'How are you doing, Francis?' I asked. 'How many books have you read until now?'

'My third book.' He lifted his head up and looked at the both of us. 'How about you two?'

'Starting my eighth book.' Nineheart shook his head to keep his spirits up and picked up "Losers in Paris" in front of me.

'Halfway through seventh,' I replied, yawning again.

He had a shock mask on his face after hearing both of our responses. Baffling, he said, 'How can the two of you read so fast? I can barely even read one book every hour! Tell me your secrets, please?'

'The books weren't too thick,' Nineheart took a sip from his coffee. He was clearly worn out from all those books despite trying to make himself look good. 'Take a break once a while and don't stress yourself too much.'

'It's 300 pages per book! How is that _not_ thick?' he scowled at Nineheart.

'What time is it?' I asked Nineheart. He peered at his watch.

'Ten-thirty.'

'I'm surprised you would go so far for someone you've just talked to for the day,' I said to him. 'Pretty sure you haven't talked to Francis before this.'

'I am in charge of all students' wellbeing, and I will do my best to solve their problems for them. That is the duty of being a student president,' he forced a smile and pinched his nose bridge. 'Both you and Francis are under my care, too, so I am helping the both of you to realize Francis's love letter.'

'Strong words,' I grinned. 'Though you would send me to do most of your work when you found others having troubles.'

'I trust you, so I'm leaving the case to you,' Nineheart flipped to the first page of "Losers in Paris".

'Great way to cover up that I am your errand boy.'

'I am not lying, Evan. You are the one I trust the most.'

'Right.' I got up from my seat and asked for another cup of coffee.

The receptionist got curious of our activity after our long period being inside the restaurant. 'Why are you three boys here? A study session?' she asked. 'If you don't mind me asking,' she added at the end.

I shook my head. 'Helping a friend to write his love letter,' I chuckled. 'What a _great_ sacrifice we both make for a friend.'

She smiled gently. 'You three must be best friends, then.'

Best friends? I don't quite know. I returned to my seat with the coffee in hand and glanced at the both of them. I still don't quite like Nineheart, but I guess he is a reliable person at times and cares of others around him. I was friends with Francis because he was the only one I know in the class at the time. We've been getting closer as I've entered the anime and manga culture which he loves. Are we three best friends?

I guess it would hurt if I were to leave this place all of a sudden. It's only been three weeks and I felt like I've develop a bond with almost every familiar face I've seen in Maple World to the students in Shinsoo International School. There will exist a day where I will leave the school for good, when all of this matter is finished. I sighed when I thought about it. It saddens me when I know I will have to leave someone I have strong ties one day. 'What's wrong?' Nineheart asked. 'Is the coffee poorly made? You can ask for a refund.'

I shook my head and put on a smile. 'No, it's nothing.' He frowned but didn't say anything afterwards, and shifted his gaze back to the book he held. I picked up "You must be from the West" and braced myself to read towards the end of the book.

An hour later, Francis gave up. 'Argh, I can't read anymore!' he leaned against the chair and dropped the book on the table. Both Nineheart and I lifted our eyes away from our books to him. 'I think I get it now. I'm not a book person! I'm writing a letter right now, and the both of you will check how it is, okay? This should be saving some time.'

'Really?' I'm finally out of the torture of reading such romance novel! I couldn't be any less happy than this moment. He pulled out a piece of paper and started to write his letter. Nineheart yawned and took a sip from the plastic cup. Looks like he's finally too tired to act.

A moment later, Francis looked at us with a weak smile. 'So… do the both of you have any ideas on how to start?'

I placed "Wolf Romance" in front of him. 'Finish this book.' I sighed. What a short-lived joy. Nineheart shook his head.

Fortunately, KFP is a 24-hour store. When midnight strikes, I took a breather by walking out of the store, looking at the dark, empty streets while leaning on the steel fences surrounding the road. _Master… are we going home?_ Mir asked, nudging my back with its head. _It seemed like I had fallen asleep._

Mir, if you want to go back, you can do so. I don't think we would be finishing very soon. I turned around to look at the other two. Nineheart took a break by sleeping as his eyes were tired. Francis may be pretending to be reading, but he was actually asleep a while ago. Mir let out a soft whine as I yawned, and I chuckled while giving a pat on its head. It had been a long day, and staying up reading boring books would end up being tired than before. I looked up to the night sky. It had been a long time since I last seen this scenery.

A gentle breeze caressed my skin. I felt like falling asleep with the cool air around me, so I've decided to run around the streets to keep myself awake. I came back five minutes later and woke Francis up. 'You do know that we're not going to write the letter, right?' I said when he grumbled. He got up from the table growling and stared at the paper for a good five minutes.

'Evan, my friend,' he said, yawning. 'How do I start?'

'Like how you did before. "Dearest Orchid", wasn't it?' I shrugged at him. 'I'm not you.'

He scribbled "Dearest Orchid" on the upper left of the paper, then paused. 'What next?'

'Now, who's going to confess to Orchid? You, or me?' I asked him.

'You like Orchid?' he looked up from the paper, surprised. He seemed to be fully awake now.

'Of course not,' I said with a sigh.

'Good,' he muttered, nodding to himself. 'Good.'

I decided to rest my eyes as I was too tired while Francis wrote his love letter. I jolted myself awake after realizing I had fallen asleep, and it was an hour later from then. Nineheart was rubbing his eyes, yawning. 'I'm finished!' Francis said, then showed us the draft. Both of us read the letter.

"Dearest Orchid, no matter how much I struggle to reach you, I know this letter is useless. Why does my heart feel this way? It's… hard. You are the loveliest angel sent down from Heaven, dear Orchid. I'll never get over you. Bye."

'Why did I open my eyes to see this?' Nineheart grumbled silently. 'Ugh…'

I cringed at the contents of the letter and couldn't help but feeling coldness creeping up my skin. I had to agree with Nineheart on looking at the cheesiest letter I've ever seen in my whole life when I just woke up from a sleep. 'So? How is it?' Francis asked, eager to know our response.

I glanced at Nineheart. He seemed to be reading the letter over and over again before putting it down a moment later and gave Francis a nod. Francis was happy at his response, and waited for mine. 'It doesn't have any grammatical mistakes, and it looks good,' I replied.

'Finally!' Francis threw his hands up to the air, then looked at the both of us. 'Thank you, student president. Thank you, Evan. Without the both of you, I wouldn't have completed the letter!' I was too tired to understand how he could be full of energy at that point and merely nodded. He picked up some of the books on the table, packed his bags and skipped back home. Nineheart stretched himself from his seat.

'It's finally done, huh,' he muttered and looked at his watch. 'Good grief, its fifteen past one in the morning.'

'I'll bring four home, and you take the other three. We'll return it tomorrow,' I yawned. 'Good job, student president, on staying with him till the very end. We ought to reward ourselves with sleep.'

'I agree. Good night, Evan.'

'Good night, Nineheart.'

Both of us parted ways. Mir couldn't be any happier that we finally returned home to sleep. I didn't bother to change my clothes as I was too tired and tossed myself onto Prefect's bed after putting down the four books and my bag on the ground. Perhaps it was due to the caffeine, I had trouble truly sleeping on bed. I found myself waking up what felt like every few minutes. After several times doing so, I managed to doze off until twenty minutes before school started. Prefect was the one who attempted to wake me up.

'Evan, you're going to be late!' he cried. Reluctantly I got up from the bed and faced him, half asleep.

'Time?' I asked.

'Ten past eight.'

'It's still early, isn't it?' I yawned.

'No it isn't! Haven't you heard me? You only have twenty minutes to prepare yourself to school!'

My brain finally processed his words. 'Oh.'

'Mir had already eaten, so it's only you,' Prefect added. 'Seriously, where were you? When did you come back?'

'About one-thirty.' I got out from the bed. 'Thanks, Prefect.'

I went into the shower and cleaned myself. My school uniform (Dragon Tail Mage Robe) smells horrible, so I tossed it into the laundry basket and took another set that I got from Cygnus's good deeds. I silently thanked her for insisting to give me three sets instead of one. Then I shoved the sunny side-up and hotdogs into my mouth and left to school with the books and my bag after applying the illusion potion on Mir. I met with Nineheart who came to school about the same time as me. He had eye bags under his eyes. I laughed at him. 'You look _terrible_ , Nineheart.'

He forced a laugh. 'You too, Evan.'

I went straight into class afterwards. Francis seemed to have a smile on his face. I wondered if it worked this time. Mr. Stan entered the class with a stern look a moment later. Uh-oh. I think it didn't. 'Despite my warnings, another threatening letter has been received,' he said with a scowl. I glanced at Francis. He was red and sweating again. 'I'm afraid a heinous criminal-in-training is in the midst of us. Whoever they are, I'll see that they will be _expelled_ from school.'

'E-expelled?!' Francis whispered loudly.

The male student in front of me raised his hand. 'Teacher, expulsion isn't enough. They should be turned in to the police.'

'P-police?!' his voice was getting louder.

The male student sitting closest to Mr. Stan nodded. 'I agree. They should be sentenced to life!'

'S-sentenced… to life?!' Francis let out a sharp gasp. I looked at Francis. His face turned pale and he fell to the ground again. Everyone looked towards the direction of the sound.

'Teacher, Francis fainted, again!'

And so I was, once again, asked to bring Francis up to the nurse's office. Hilla gave me a strange look as I placed him down on the white bed. 'The boy fainted again?' she asked as I was prepared to leave the office.

I nodded. 'It seems like he had quite a shock in class.'

'What, did Magnus asked him to run a hundred laps around school?' Hilla seemed to show interest of his extreme situations.

'No, not yet,' I shook my head. 'Mr. Stan was announcing to the students regarding the consequences of the threatening letter someone received.'

Hilla raised an eyebrow. 'So, is he the one…?

I feigned idiocy and shrugged. 'I have no idea, miss.'

She narrowed her eyes at me and nodded. 'You may leave now. I will contact you if anything happens to your friend.'

I left the room with a yawn. I hope I could stay awake for the rest of the day. After school, I hope to return back to Prefect's house and slept through the night while skipping dinner. I felt that my sleep was much more important than some food.


	11. Chapter 9 (FS Chapter 2)

I was woken up by the girl who sat beside me in class. Yawning, I lifted my head up to Arkarium's stern face. A second later I realized he was standing right beside my table. 'Evan, please answer the question on the board _now_ ,' he said grimly. I blinked a few times and went to the board. A question written with chalk on it, "Draw and explain the blood circulation in the human heart."

And so I did. Arkarium's face was priceless when he realized I was listening to his class (when in fact I had truly fallen asleep) and said nothing when I fell asleep on the table again. Bully told me that I was a genius as he didn't quite understand how did the pumping of heart worked when Arkarium was explaining in front of the class. 'How can you understand what that old man was talking about?' he frowned. 'He seemed to be repeating a few sentences for several times in a row.' I had learnt this from the books back in Maple World, so I understood it.

'Maybe you should read the books before his class starts,' I replied. 'That would help to understand better.'

He nodded at me. 'By the way, have you seen my letter?'

I frowned. 'What letter?'

'Don't act stupid. I know you've seen my letter. Where did you put it?'

'I really didn't see it. Look, I'm really tired, and I don't want to start an argument with you.' I yawned. I really hoped nothing big happens afterwards. I just want to go back and sleep.

He bit his lower lip and returned to check his table once more. Was he mentioning about a love letter? Did he wanted to confess to Irena? I glanced at him, shrugged and headed towards the cafeteria. After I finished my ramen, I felt my smartphone vibrating in my pockets. I took it out and found an unknown number calling me. 'Hello?' I said when I accepted the call.

'Hello. You're Francis's friend, Evan, right?' It was a woman's voice.

'I am. Who are you?' I frowned.

'Who am I? I'm the school nurse.' It took me a while for me to make a connection. She sounded slightly different than she used to. 'I'm afraid your friend is gravely ill. Could you go check the infirmary? I'm about to leave for the day.'

So early? It's only lunch break. 'Yeah… I'll be there. Is it that bad?'

'Yes, he's in serious condition. Gosh, why are you still talking to me?' And then Hilla hung up. I saved her number just in case I was required to call her, then dragged my body up to the fourth floor. I stumbled upon Hilla who was going the opposite direction as me on the second floor. She was holding a white purse and had a big smile on her face. Is she going on a date? I shook my thought away and continued forward. I slid open the door to see how bad Francis's condition was. He was sitting at the end of the first bed, a plastic bag filled with ice was on his head, his mouth hanging a thermometer. I sighed in relief. Hilla exaggerated his situation, as if he was dying away. I saw him crying while poking his two index fingers together.

Both Lily and Elwin were in the room, hidden away from Francis's eyes. Lily hid beside a long bench closest to the entrance of the nurse's office, whereas Elwin was standing next to the curtains of the second bed. There was a weighing scale next to him, and a portal leading towards the Dust Zone. This place seemed to have Dusts too. I saw a small Dust formed underneath the second bed. Elwin seemed to saw it too, and used magic to drag it out and threw it into the portal, then looked at me. I think he was telling me that he was doing his job properly in bringing the Dusts into the Zone.

I approached Francis. 'Ow, I'm dying… ow… ow… ow…' he muttered.

'Uh, Francis? Are you okay?' I asked in concern.

He looked up from his fingers and wiped his tears away. 'Ugh… Evan, my friend,' he sniffed. 'I've caught a serious disease.' He seemed very fine to me. 'You don't have to try and give me hope. I know the seriousness of my condition.' Well, physically, he is unharmed. Perhaps he meant by mentally. Maybe he couldn't accept the fact that he had bring fear to his beloved Orchid once more. 'Do you want to know the name of the disease I have?' he asked. I shook my head. He answered it anyway. 'It's… lovesickness. This incurable disease causes the victim to long for their subject of admiration for an indefinite period of time.' Sounds horrible. I feel that even the worst negative effects I've gotten off the clone bosses such as Seduce and Stun weren't as bad as that one, since it would wear off after a while.

'I… I see.' I didn't know what to say.

He faked some coughs for no reasons. 'Would you be so kind as to bring me some medicine? I don't care if it's a fever reducer or a cold medicine. I feel so hot, I might faint any time.' He pulled out the glass thermometer from his mouth and checked his temperature. He coughed again. 'My body temperature is 36.5 degrees Celsius.'

I blinked at him. 'That's perfectly normal.' How bad is this "lovesickness" anyway? Some of them don't seem to have it, like Hawkeye who seemed to jump from woman to woman as swiftly as his eyes could meet them.

He faked coughing again. 'I'm dying… ow, ow, ow… Help me!'

I sighed. 'Alright. I'll see what I can find.' I searched through the first aid kit box placed in the middle of the room. There were only bottles of iodine and plasters inside it. I wonder why Hilla brought on so many iodine in the first place. I wanted to ask Lily, but she shook her head. It would be hard for me to explain to Francis if I were to ask her while squatting down beside a bench. So I asked Elwin instead, who was blocked by the curtains.

'Shush, you don't want him to hear us,' he whispered as I squatted down in front of him. 'What is it this time?'

'Have you seen any flu medicine or fever reducer? He insisted that his body was hot when he was fine.'

'Is he feigning illness?' Elwin asked. I shrugged.

'Most likely.'

'Evan?' Francis asked.

'Wait a moment, I'm checking the shelves behind here,' I replied, then turned back to Elwin. 'So, what should I do?'

'There's an effect called the placebo effect. Some patients experience an improvement in their condition when what they are given is a simulated treatment. Placebos proved the psychosomatic effects of medicine.'

'You mean, I can give him anything and he'll turn fine?' I frowned.

He nodded. 'Even a laxative would work. I know where to find them.'

'Isn't laxative bad for your health?' I didn't like Elwin's idea.

'Taking too much would be. He isn't going to swallow dozens of pills, right? I know some Dusts who took them. Enter the Dust Zone beside you,' he lifted his paw to the direction of the portal. 'Twelve packets should be enough.'

'That's a lot of laxative you're making me hunt to give him…'

'Fear not. He'll only take one pill.' Elwin added after a pause. 'Probably. Hey, it would clean his insides, you know.'

'Don't say it like it's a good thing, Elwin.'

Fortunately I didn't close the door, so I gestured to the invisible Mir to enter. The infirmary door is slightly bigger than the rest of the rooms in this school, so it didn't make any odd sounds to alert Francis. Both of us entered Dust Zone and made swift attempts to hunt for all twelve packets of laxative. Due to the lack of sleep, there were times I lose focus and lost a considerable amount of HP. Mir casted Soul Stone on me when I had forgotten Hollow Dust explodes after its death and narrowly saved my life. 'Thanks, Mir,' I said weakly. I should pay attention more to my surroundings as it would cost my life. It was then I saw a letter on the ground. I picked it up, frowning. "Bully's Love Letter", it said. Was this what Bully was searching before? I took it with me just in case. I came out three minutes later as the drops were surprisingly generous despite the low spawn count of Dusts. Perhaps even the monsters knew what I wanted and hoped to cure Francis's feigned illness.

Francis looked paler when I returned from the zone. 'Ugh… I think I'm dying from this fever…' he muttered. I handed him the laxatives I found from the Dusts after removing some dust stains on it. 'What kind of medicine is this?' he looked up from his hands.

'It's effective for fevers.'

'Really?' I think he could read the packaging that clearly said "Laxatives" but he didn't seem to bother with it despite being hesitant and swallowed two pills from the packets. He grabbed the half-filled glass on the bedside and drank it in order to aid the swallowing. A moment later, he let out a sigh of relief. 'Phew, the medicine seemed to kick in already. Thank you, my friend.'

That was fast. I should've just grabbed a packet if I knew its effect would be swift. I took a nearby stool and sat across him.

'Evan, I know you're wondering why I'm so helplessly in love with Orchid,' he chuckled sadly. 'Do you want to hear my love story so badly?'

'I'm not interested.'

'Well, if you insist, then I'll tell you about the story of my love that I cannot tell anyone else.' Perhaps his heartbrokenness had led him to be completely deaf against my words.

'You don't really need to.' I insisted.

'It was spring.' He looked out of the window melodramatically as he had completely ignored my presence. It is spring too right now, actually. 'Do you know a king called Pygmalion in Greek mythology?'

'Not at all.'

'He loved a statue of ideal womanhood instead of real woman.'

I was amused by that. 'Interesting.'

'So did I.'

I remembered his title was "Doll Maniac". If he liked statues, why is he in love in Orchid in the first place?

'I was late that day when the limited edition first-episode Magic Girl Slime figure started to sell. I was hoping it wouldn't sell out when I got there through Drizzling Trail, as it was the fastest way to get to the store.' Wait, wasn't that like a week ago? He told me last week that he was late for some limited edition figure and hung up the phone abruptly when I asked him for some recommendation in manga. 'Yes, I'm a Pygmalion of the modern age. I was interested only in dolls and never real woman.'

What changed, I wonder.

'Then I saw her.'

Ugh, cheesy romance novel situations. I couldn't help but cringe.

'I saw her standing in the spring rain with a sad look.' His expression turned woe as well. 'At first, I didn't know who she was. I may have seen her on TV, but I never paid attention of her name. She stood at the end of Drizzle Trail, her fragile right hand seemingly raised to catch the raindrops. I noticed she was wearing our school's uniform.'

I wonder what she was doing there. Isn't it bad to catch rain? I've heard that people of Seoul have less resistance against diseases.

'I approached her and asked what she was doing.' He chuckled. 'I'm a demon, so the rain wouldn't affect me, but she is a human, and she might catch a cold from it. Orchid… she turned around to look at me with a doleful look without saying a word, then looked at where she was before. I felt a sudden change deep inside me when her gaze met mine in that brief moment of contact. Since that day, my heart had stopped beating.' I pulled out my smartphone. 'What are you doing?' he raised an eyebrow.

'Calling an ambulance. You said your heart had stopped beating, right?'

'Not literally!' he scowled, then his expression changed to blank as he peered out of the window looking at nothing in particular. 'I'm saying it was a love at first sight.'

It was hard to pay attention to his story as I felt all the hairs on my body had stood up together in agreement of how similar the story of his is to the romance novels I've went through yesterday. I had a sudden urge break the mood with a cough, so I glanced around the room. Elwin casted a determined look at me, his eyes saying, "You can do it!"

Francis giggled at his own situation. 'How pathetic, I asked myself that day. I'm a scion of a true demon. How can I fall in love with a lowly human? My heart was racing, as if it wanted to leap out of my chest. I've made attempts to calm it down, but they were futile. I feared of dying of a heart attack after seeing her like that. At the end I accepted the fact that I had fallen for her. So I've decided, if this is a punishment from the gods, then I'll take it… with grace!'

Oh no. Oh, not this shit again. I rubbed my hand against my skin. Looks like the temperature in this room had fallen drastically from his sheer words of cheesiness. I wasn't wearing my Dragon Tail Mage Robe which would keep me warm, and I hoped I don't get a freeze status at the end of his never-ending, cheesy romance story.

'That day, I broke my seal. "Dear gods, please don't stop me!" I said towards the sky. "As of today, I'm hers! Mwa hah ha ha!"' He cackled.

Oh, for the love of Maple Goddess, how can I escape such coldness surrounding my skin?

'Hey,' there was a gentle tap on my shoulder. I flinched and turned around. It was Irena, and Oz waving behind her. I sighed in relief. My savior! 'What is he yammering about?'

'He looks serious,' Oz added.

Before I could reply them, Francis stopped laughing. 'Oopsie-daisy! How long have you guys been there?' he chuckled, embarrassed.

'We've heard that you've created a mess and got sick again,' Irena sighed as she pulled out a similar damp letter from yesterday. 'Can you imagine what it turned out?' she asked me as she handed me the letter. I shrugged. I've seen his draft and it looked quite cheesy. I opened it and found the letter had changed into, "Dearest Orchid, struggle useless hard angel never. Bye." I laughed at the new content. This looked quite disturbing indeed.

'I don't think you have a chance with her. You should give up,' Oz said to him. 'You are not meant to be with her."

'Ugh… you're wrong! Orchid and I are a match made in heaven!' Francis turned towards me pleadingly. 'Evan, say something!'

'You're hopeless, Francis.' I shook my head.

He sighed heavily. 'I don't care what you think. I plagued by lovesickness forever.' I glanced at Irena and Oz. They shrugged at his condition. 'But…' Francis continued. I shifted my gaze back to him. 'There's a cure for my condition. My friend, would you do me a favor?' he faked a cough again.

'As long as it's within my grasp.' I hope he doesn't ask for something ridiculous like "help me pair up with Orchid".

'Think of this as my last wish.' His starting sentence sounded like he was about to die. 'Bring me a picture of Orchid. I'll feel much better if I can see her, even though it's a picture…' I remembered seeing a poster above the wardrobe in Prefect's room. I should ask him for it. 'I'll take anything. Please, bring me a picture of Orchid.' And he coughed once more.

'Don't worry, we'll take care of him,' Irena nodded when I turned around. 'You seemed to know where you can get a picture of her.'

'I remember seeing a poster at my friend's room,' I replied. Then, I remembered the letter I found from the Dusts. I pulled out the letter and handed it to her. 'Here. For you.'

Irena's face stiffened. Oz came forward and looked at the letter in my hand. 'Ooo, a love letter? For Irena? I didn't know you have that feeling towards her!' Oz nudged her with a grin.

'Ugh, my fingers and toes! This is unbearable!' Irena cringed from the item. She looked at me wryly, her hands by her face with her fingers all curled up. 'Why are you doing _this_ to me? What have I _done_ to you? Why are you _showing_ me _this_?!'

'It's not what you think it is,' I sighed heavily. I was about to say that I found it off the ground, but I paused to rethink my actions. 'Bully… told me to deliver this letter to you.'

'Aw, so it wasn't yours?' Oz was disappointed.

'A letter… to me?' her expression returned to normal as she glanced at the letter. 'Do you mean _that_ Bully did it?' I nodded at her. She sighed. 'He might be serious about this, and it's not right to make fun of him because of it.' I nodded again. 'I'll tell him no, so don't worry,' she smiled. 'Thank you for bringing his letter.' She took the letter from my hand and stuffed it in her skirt pockets.

I smiled back at her. 'By the way,' she added. I blinked at her as she showed me her curled up fingers. 'I still can't straighten my fingers.'

Oz and I laughed at her. 'Don't worry, it should be soon,' I told her. 'Take care of Francis. I'll be away for a while.'

Both of them waved me out. I hurried downstairs and ran towards Prefect's house. He was on the couch watching TV, and he turned around with a black remote on his hand. 'Why are you here?' he asked as I took a deep breath from the sudden run. 'Aren't you supposed to be in school now?'

The TV was showing an advertisement about Orchid in some Halloween clothes, something about a "concert" and the "seats" were selling out like hotcakes. It was true about how famous Orchid is. 'Hello?' Prefect snapped me out of my thoughts. 'What, you're a fan of Orchid too?'

'No. She's a student in Shinsoo International School,' I uttered.

'What?' Prefect got up from his seat, his eyes widened. 'Is it true?' I nodded. He threw his hand up to the air. 'Yes! Nice! Maybe I should…' he trailed off, his eyes casted down as he lolled on the couch in front of the TV. 'Never mind.' I guess he still hated going to school.

'Oh yeah, you have a poster of Orchid in your room, right? Can I have it for a while?'

'Huh? That concert promotion poster? But why?' He frowned.

'It's… a little favor from my friend. I'll return it to you as soon as possible, okay? He just wants to see Orchid in a picture.'

'Hmm… okay. It's above the wardrobe. I can't seem to get to it, but since you can teleport to it, it would be fine, right?'

'Sure.' I glanced at him once more before running upstairs towards the wardrobe's location. I teleported upwards and peeled off the poster taped on it the wall while carefully taking off the tapes on all four sides. Someone had torn a little towards the top right corner of the poster. Orchid was sitting on a pumpkin, with other adventurers admiring her. She looked adorable and evil at the same time in the picture. I rolled it up and headed back to Francis as fast as I could.

'Oh, you're back. That was fast,' Irena said.

'It happened to be close by.' I approached Francis.

'Orchid… did you get her picture yet?' the doleful boy asked sheepishly. I grinned and showed him the poster.

'There. You've seen her now.'

'Ooo, Orchid's poster!' He was happy for a moment, then his expression turned into a scowl. 'Uh… this is just a promotional poster of her concerts this year! Are you kidding me? I've gotten this already!'

I rolled it back up and stuffed into my bag. It seems like he wasn't pleased with it. 'My condition can only be cured by an _actual_ photo of her, and I mean by the one that you actually took with a camera!'

I sighed heavily. So much work for a cure. 'Beggars can't be choosers, you know,' Irena replied. I nodded at her words.

'I want to give him a noogie,' Oz said with a smile.

'Noogie?' I raised an eyebrow at her.

'It's a slang word. She meant that she wants to hit him on the head with her knuckles,' Irena explained.

Francis attempted to avoid the consequences by coughing furiously. 'An actual photo!' he cried. 'I want her actual photo! Ugh… her photo… I want an actual photo!' At this point, he seemed to have reduced to a baby crying for food in my eyes.

The school bell rang. Class is starting soon. 'After school it is. I'm not missing any classes,' I told him.

'Ugh… fine…' Francis coughed again and lay down on the bed. 'You promised…'

The three of us left the infirmary room. 'He's a tough guy to please,' Irena sighed heavily as she slid the door close. 'Good luck getting a photo of her, Evan. She might have other ideas if it were _us_ that took the photo.'

I sighed. 'You're just saying that because you don't want to be involve with her. Is she really that bad of a person?'

'What was your first impression of Orchid?' Oz asked as we headed down the stairs.

'A pushy, feisty, arrogant person.'

'That's how she is,' Irena replied. 'See you later, Evan, Oz.'

Both of us waved back at her as she entered her class on the third floor, then we headed downstairs. 'I hope she won't get funny ideas with me trying to get a photo of her,' I said, scratching the back of my head. 'Francis sure have ridiculous requests.'

Oz giggled. 'But you're still friends with him. Good luck Evan.'

I returned to my classroom after parting ways with Oz. I'm still tired from early this morning. I braved through myself without falling into temptation of sleeping through Mr. Stan's English class. He called me out to the board to write the synonyms of words for several simple words as I was blinking to keep awake. Somehow the words managed to come to my mind and Mr. Stan clicked his tongue in anger as he was unable to catch me off guard.

Right after the class is done, my mind wandered off to return back to the bed as I slowly packed my things. Then I realized I had to take a picture of Orchid. Darn it! I ran out of the classroom immediately and headed to the second year's classroom. I slid the door open quickly and scanned around the room. Orchid was nowhere to be seen. 'Oh? Transfer student, what brings you?' Cassandra waved as she approached me with Miss Appropriation.

'I'm looking for Orchid. Where is she now?'

'Orchid?' she raised an eyebrow. 'You're late. She just left through the front gate after class ends. Why did you want to see her?'

'Uh… I want to take her photo.' Because of Francis's stupid request.

'You want to take her photo.' Cassandra sighed. 'So, you're her fan too. Dozens of fans like you come to see her on a daily basis.' She shook her head at me, as if she thought I was different from the other guys in school. 'It hasn't been long since she left. You might be able to catch up with her if you check the front gate now.'

'Right,' I nodded. 'Thank you, Cassandra.' Then I ran towards the front gate as soon as possible. As soon as I left the school building, I spotted Elwin near the flight of stairs, with some girls petting him. He had a look of joy written all over his face. A few meters away from him stood Orchid holding her smartphone. Baroq approached her.

'What took you so long? I've waited fifteen seconds!' Orchid scowled at him. Wow. 'Gosh, you're so slow. My time is more valuable than gold.' I coughed when I heard that. As if other people's time isn't valued the same. 'For every second you're late, I'm going to smack you on the face.'

'Okay.' Baroq replied monotonously. Poor guy. I pulled out my smartphone as Orchid slapped his face with a scowl. I don't think she looked nice with it, but I just needed a picture. As soon as I took the photo of her, she had left. I checked how the image turned out. It was so blurry that you wouldn't know it was her at all. I sighed heavily and chased after her. I guess I'm still not used of using the camera app on this object.

Beyond the school gates, I saw her and Baroq standing near to the bus stop. 'I feel moody. I want to walk alone. I know I have no schedule today,' Orchid said to him as I approached them silently while holding the phone.

'Then why did you call me?' Baroq asked after a brief pause.

'What would people think if no one comes to pick me up?' Orchid let out a heavy sigh. 'You're done here. Go back home, Manager.' I made another attempt but it seemed like I shook my hand a little too much. Another blurry figure came out instead.

Manager (Baroq) stood there without a word. 'Haven't you figured me out yet? Don't make me repeat myself,' Orchid glared at him. I struggled to delete the blurry photo I had and pulled out the camera app again.

Reluctantly, Baroq replied with "Okay" and left her alone. I took the advantage to take the picture of her again. Tough job for Baroq. I felt pity of his alter ego here. Though, I don't think Baroq over there had a good job, either. The heroes and adventurers who seen him once had beaten him for good. I attempted to focus the picture onto her, but a raven coincidentally flew by and I caught a good picture of the raven instead.

'Dammit,' I muttered alone. She entered the bus and seemed to be heading somewhere. Maybe the Drizzle Trail? I deleted the picture and got onto the magical bus to Drizzle Trail. What a pain in the ass. I didn't get all worked up like this to get a stupid photo of her to ease Francis's broken heart. On the bus, I realized that there was a promotion picture of her concert as an advertisement placed inside near the driver's seat. I guess she is _that_ famous.

I got off at the Drizzle Trail. Lily was standing in the rain, shaking herself as the rain fell onto her feline body. She noticed me and purred sloppily again. I looked around. There wasn't anyone there. I saw someone heading deep into Drizzle Trail, probably Orchid, but I should head towards Lily first. 'What are you doing here?' I asked, crouching. 'Also, your purring hasn't improved.'

'Stop talking about it!' she hissed. 'Anyway, well met. I have something to tell you about that girl – Orchid. I'm afraid about the darkness in her mind is attracting monsters, and at any moment one would turn into a Troublemaker. Please follow her and hunt Dusts in your way. Can you do that?'

I scanned around the area once more. 'Sure… Let's hope no one happened to come here, shall we?'

'We'll be in a separate dimension. I'll tag along with you, so don't fret. Happy hunting.'

The spawn along the way was nice! I had fun killing the monsters. Mir and I were fighting against each other to get the most kills while Lily clung onto my shoulders, her claws penetrated my clothes and skin when I moved around too quickly. I winced when it happened, but it didn't hurt as much as the worst things I've experienced. 'God, I've forgotten how much of a _monster_ you two are when together,' Lily jumped down from my shoulder after the third map was finished. The timer was at "17:20". 'You still haven't told me how you get to learn other skills other than your own set as an Evan.'

'I tried it on my own. I studied under Grendel and it somehow made process as I was bored having Mir getting all the work done. He was pleasantly surprised at my improvement. I could learn some of the skills, but with the price of using extra mana than those who started as that particular class,' I replied while pulling out a power elixir from my bag. Removing the cork with my thumb, I finished the contents in one gulp. 'I hope the Troublemaker from her wouldn't be too much tougher than Areda's.'

'Only one way to find out,' Lily nodded at me and entered the portal. I followed after her. At the end of Drizzle Trail stood Orchid, soaked under the rain with her hand seemingly reaching out to the sky. While I had a thought wondering why she was standing in the middle of the rain, I realized my original objective. I took out my phone and snapped a photo of her. She didn't move, and I've been more experienced than before. I nodded at the picture, pleased at my work, and headed back to Francis. Nothing happened in between, to my relief, and no Troublemaker spawned. Lily nodded at me, happy that my hunt had reduced the chances of one spawning.

I was about to enter the portal towards the bus when someone called out to me. 'Where are you going, stalker?' Orchid's voice rang from behind. I turned around. Oops, I've been found. 'I've been wondering what you'd look like, and now I know.' She smirked as she examined me again. 'You're the one who sent me the letters, aren't you?'

Another misunderstanding again… 'No.' I said flatly.

'Don't lie. I know _everything_. You're the one left flowers stuck in my locker, sent lunch boxes and beverages to my practice room, and wipes my table and chairs sparkling clean every day,' she said. What in the world is Francis doing? Does he have so much time on doing such a thing? I'm surprised that she wasn't freaked out on how much dedication Francis had put on trying to woo her. 'I know the letters weren't meant to threaten me. I _could_ read the smudged letters.' If you can, why make such a big deal about it? Now Francis's upset for no particular reason at all. I tried to keep a blank look as she walked past me and stood by the portal. 'I won't blame you for what you did. Can you just take a minute to listen to me?'

I was too tired to reject. 'Okay.' I can listen to them, but they won't listen to me. Both Orchid and Francis are very much alike.

Lily followed me by the bus as Orchid stopped at the Sunset Yard. Both of us followed after the twin tailed girl as she headed to the swings, then she sat on the one closest to her. 'Whew, I like this place because it's quiet,' she muttered as she looked at her feet. 'The school is always noisy.' I think she meant by her fans crowding over her. 'Everywhere I go, people squeal at me.' I was right. She then sighed heavily and pushed herself backward on the swing, allowing it to move to and fro slowly.

I wonder why she brought me to such a place. If anything, the person who should be standing here with her right now would be Francis, and not me. 'I think she wants to tell you something, Evan,' Lily whispered. I nodded and headed closer to her, sitting at the steps of the slide. Lily sat beside me. I could hear Mir landing beside me, forming a small, subtle shockwave.

'That place… It's where my brother got into an accident.' My eyes widened. So Seoul's Lotus weren't in good shape, too. 'I come by there when I felt like crying.' She seemed to be tearing up. I didn't know what to say and merely nodded at her story. 'Today marks the third year since my brother went into coma.' Seoul's Lotus seemed to be unconscious as well, except in Maple World, he is being controlled by Professor Gelimer with something.

'I'm sorry,' I muttered.

'I don't expect her to confide into you,' Lily whispered quietly. I nodded at her. I didn't, too.

'My twin brother, Lotus, was always popular with the girls,' Orchid continued, her gaze remained on the ground. 'The girls treated me nicely because of it. They wanted to use me to get closer to Lotus.' She chuckled sadly. 'How stupid I was to think that they were my friends. After the accident, when Lotus went into coma, the girls showed me their true colors. They excluded me, talked behind my back… and even harassed me. They said that they never liked me at all.' Is that why she kept others away from her? Was she afraid of being betrayed again? 'I put on a brave face, but I was scared and lonely inside. Lotus was the only one I could trust, but now he's in a state where even my words wouldn't reach him. I couldn't believe others anymore.' She glanced at me to see if I was listening to her. I nodded at her.

'You know what's funny?' she asked. I shook my head. 'When I started showing up on TV, those girls – those same girls who did all the things to me wanted to be friends with me again. Then I realized that _nobody_ truly cared about everyone else. They act friendly when they want something.' This is actually true for certain people. 'The same goes for _everyone_ at school. They act friendly in front of me, but they talk behind me.' She looked at me, her expression empty. 'I'm sure you are one of them too.'

I bit my tongue. I just did. Sort-of, I think? Nevertheless, I still did. Orchid was silent. I guess I should say something about it. I was tired and sleepy, and suddenly a sentimental situation struck me. I thought of something good to say. 'It's not true. Some of us like you because… of _how_ you are, and not _who_ you are,' I said with a smile, hinting about Francis. I feel like I'm a cupid to set them both up. Orchid turned towards me with a sad look on her face. 'Maybe, were you to be open a little more towards others, you may be able to find someone you can truly trust. Although, that might take some time… But I believe it will be worth the effort.'

'Really?' she replied a moment later.

'Yes,' I nodded. 'You aren't as bad as the others thought.' I felt like I just gave a cheesy response. Has the romance novels finally infected me with its cliché, cringe-worthy, and cheesy lines?

She snorted at my response. 'You're lying,' she scowled, then got off from the swing. Huh? Did I say something wrong? She stomped towards the bus stop, leaving me wondering what I have done wrong.

'Let's follow her!' Lily said, then jumped onto my shoulder. I nodded and ran after her. Somehow, she was waiting for me the bus. I frowned at her as she reverted to her normal expression.

'You listened to me today, so I feel grateful –' she trailed off and shook her head. 'Never mind.' Seems like her honestly had returned. 'Um… number. Give me your phone number.'

'Sure…' We both exchanged numbers. Then I finally asked her. 'Why?'

'W-why?' her face flushed. 'Because I want to turn you in to the police!' She averted her gaze. 'Stalkers like you must be locked away from the rest of the world!' I have a bad feeling about this. Also, isn't her behavior somewhat reminding me of something from the manga? Was it "tsundere"? Though, it seemed like I've accidentally become friends with her.

The two boys behind me found out that it was Orchid and gasped at her. 'Hmph, this is why I don't use public transportation.' She turned around. 'I'm getting off now. Don't follow me, stalker!' She marched forward, but that was towards the driver's seat. I raised an eyebrow at her. She quickly realized the fact and turned around, her face redder than before. I didn't know what to think of her childish behavior and couldn't help but chuckled while covering my mouth. She shot me a glare and left while she walked past me.

It was late, so I gave up the idea to visit the nurse's office, as I think Francis had went back home. When I entered the house, I received a text from Orchid. "I hate your guts! I don't ever want to see your face again! You moron!"


	12. Chapter 10 (FS Chapter 2)

Chapter 11 (FS Chapter 2) will be out later than the rest as I had problems writing it due to writer's block. Thanks for reading.

* * *

After dinner, I received a text from Francis. Funny, I was supposed to receive it after school, but somehow I didn't seem to receive it on that time. I was rather sure about it. I asked Prefect why this occurred. 'Ah, it might be because you or he was in an area where the signal was low,' he replied. 'So the message would sometimes arrive later than the time sent.'

'I see.' I looked at the message. "Dear friend… The photos… Do you have the photos of Orchid yet? I'm waiting for their arrival here in the infirmary." I hoped that he wouldn't be too silly to still wait at this time, right? It was almost eight o'clock at night. 'He wouldn't… right?'

'What?' Prefect frowned at my mutterings.

'Ah. He told me that he's waiting for Orchid's picture in the infirmary, but he shouldn't still be there right now, I think. I hope he wouldn't still be waiting.'

Prefect chuckled. 'Surely not.'

'Master…' Mir flew towards me. _Are we going now? Are you keeping your promise, Master?_

'Hmm?' Prefect looked at both of us, frowning. 'Are you guys… talking in telepathy?'

I grinned. 'Sort-of. I'll be leaving now. I should be back before midnight.'

'Where to?'

'To see Maple World's Orchid.' I left while waving at him.

Mir and I headed to Six Pathway Crossway and entered Pantheon. Then, I left the portal by selecting Edelstein as my exit point. We arrived near Edelstein's Temporary Airport. The streets were dark, with only the houses' windows and several lamp posts illuminating the town. I haven't seen Edelstein at night before, and both Mir and I looked around curiously at the new sight. We moved past the alleyway separating the temporary airport and the mansion where Albert and Gabrielle lived, and I noticed something shining inside the alleyway, so I took two steps back to see if there were anything in there. I wasn't seeing things – there really was something with faint lights coming out on its black body. A robot in the city? It couldn't be good. I vaguely saw the small figures walking around the robot. They were cats.

 _Master, what's that? A… robot ghost?_ Mir said through telepathy.

Silly, robots don't become a ghost when they die. They don't really die, either. After all, they are non-living objects.

 _Then, what's that thing deep inside the alleyway, surrounded by cats?_

I have absolutely no idea. The kittens were purring at the black cladded robot. I stared at the figure again. It looked somewhat humanoid, a left circular earpiece covering his left ear that emitted faint blue light. The lights came out from the rest of its body were azure, too. Time to time a blue static would flow out of its body. I moved stealthily towards the target, pointing my umbrella at it as I moved forward. I could hear Mir's soft flap behind me. I peered cautiously at the face of the humanoid robot. 'Xenon?'

He jumped when I call his name and slowly turned around, an awkward smile hung on his face. I sighed in relief and lowered my staff. The never aging, half-android boy sighed too. He still have his black shaggy hair in shape. His eyes met mine and several lines of codes flew through his mechanical eyes for a few seconds. 'Oh, good evening, DragonGod,' he nodded at me after realizing who I was. 'What brings you here?'

'I was just dropping by to see how Orchid's doing. Is she better now?' I asked, lowering myself to the same position as he is. The kittens purred kindly at him, to which he responded with a smile at them.

'If you mean "better" as in she had recuperated to her former strength, yes. But she seemed to be distant to the rest of us,' he replied monotonously. 'It was partially our fault as we had been pressing her for the details of Black Wing's plan. She refused to do so, even to this day. Most of the time she would feign asleep when we attempted to open a conversation with her.'

'I see.' I petted one of the kittens. 'What are you doing here?'

'Feeding the cats. They were abandoned here.' He had his hand extended out, but he didn't seem to pet them. Some of the cats rubbed itself onto his hand. 'I don't quite feel their touch, but they must feel weird with their hairs touching the human skin.'

'Maybe, but it feels somewhat assuring,' I smiled at him. 'Why don't you try petting them as well? It would be a decent experience for you.'

He looked at me. 'How so? It does not improve my fighting ability.'

'It makes you human again. Try it.'

He observed my actions and he tried it on his own. The cats were fond of his touch and he was surprised at their reaction. Maybe it was the first time for him to see the cats closed their eyes in ease at his touch. 'I feel… weirdly happy inside. My emotions are working again.'

I grinned. 'What's with the cat ears on top of your head?'

He froze instantly. After a brief period had passed, the thoughts in his mind had finally settled and he blurted out, 'There is nothing on top of my head.'

'Ah, aren't they the Xenon Hat?' I peered at it. 'With the marking on your face, you looked like a step closer into becoming an android, humanoid cat yourself,' I chuckled.

He covered the hat with both of his hands, his face flushed. 'It seems that I have yet to remove this hat from my equipment. I apologize for such a ridiculous sight.'

'Oh no, it's okay,' I said, grinning. 'I thought you never wore them. What happened?'

'Claudine wanted to see me with the hat on. At first I didn't care, but there were many people who seemed to be staring at me while the hat is on my head,' he muttered. 'I felt uncomfortable with the stare. Claudine said that I was experiencing "embarrassment".'

I nodded. 'It sure was uncomfortable.'

'These cats usually avoided me when I come around,' he continued. 'I was confused when they didn't today. So it was the hat that made them all comfortable with my presence.'

'That's interesting. Well, I should get going. Is Orchid still in the hospital room?'

Xenon nodded. 'Ah, I remembered.' He turned towards me. 'Claudine and the others went to check Verne Mines. Demon Slayer and Demon Avenger had recently spotted Lotus inside it, so they are checking it during the night to determine the case. We couldn't talk to her. Will you inform her in our stead, since you are to visit her?'

'I will.' I turned around to leave the alleyway, then I remembered something. 'Xenon?'

'Yes?' he looked at me.

'If you were to see the real Evan, will you tell him to go back to his home?'

He tilted his head to the side. 'Home?'

I nodded. 'Yes. Please tell him to return home.'

Xenon nodded. 'Information stored in memory. I will tell him if I were to meet him, as long as the memory isn't clashed with another important task.'

'Thank you, Xenon.'

'You're still thinking about Utah?' Mir asked as we walked past the alleyway. I sighed and forced a nod. 'I guess it would be too hard to handle for you too, huh, Master…'

'We are not the originals. We can never replace them. This is our destiny,' I said, resting the umbrella on my right shoulder. 'I shouldn't have accepted it, and Utah shouldn't have placed the responsibility of Evan's family onto me, either.' Then I sighed heavily again. 'What a mess…'

We both stopped at the alleyway in between Edelstein Municipal School and Edelstein Police Station close to the end of the map. After making sure there weren't anyone nearby, we entered the alleyway. A big pipe hole with faint glowing lights inside it was at the end of the narrow space. It was the entrance to the Secret Plaza, Resistance's headquarters and hideout. I entered through the hidden portal. It landed me onto a large metal crate, a steel ladder leading it down. The location was deserted, as Xenon had mentioned earlier, as they explored the mines. I got on Mir's back and we glided down to the portal on the lower left of the map. Wendeline was about to enter the portal and I surprised her with my existence when I came through it. 'Ahh!' she yelled, dropping the first aid kit from her hands to the ground.

Mir jumped on the noise of the box hitting the ground. I picked it up and examined the contents. Fortunately none of the items were broken inside. I closed it as she calmed herself down, then I handed the box to her. 'Sorry for startling you like that, Wendeline,' I uttered apologetically. 'Are you alright?'

The petite, blonde hair woman nodded, sighing in relief. I see that she still had two brown buns with a screw in the middle as an ornament on her head. 'Ah, DragonGod. What brings you here today?'

'I wanted to visit Orchid. Is she in?'

She nodded. 'I wonder why you would like to visit her. She didn't like our presences so I hope you would ask her conditions. She refused to speak with us for a whole week now. I'm worried that she would turn ill without my realization.'

I nodded. 'Just feeling it. I will speak to her about the matter.'

'Thank you, DragonGod.' She smiled and entered the portal heading out to Secret Plaza.

'We're visiting Orchid, right?' Mir asked me again. 'I wonder if the both of them are somewhat related…'

'Shush. We're not speaking a word of this outside,' I scowled at it. Mir tightened up its mouth and nodded. Both of us entered the first Mechanics' garage, where Checky, the balloon mascot by day and the Mechanic instructor at night for Resistance forces, stored most of his items. I still wonder how does Checky looked like underneath his bear suits, for he never seemed to remove them because they were "filled with hopes and dreams". I remembered playing along with Ulrika, Claudine's sister as we both had once attempted to get rid of the suit from him by placing Serpents inside his suit, only to find another bear suit underneath his first layer. Though, he had respiratory problems underneath the suit and require a special oxygen respirator to breathe properly as he was "special". So Claudine had said.

Being a polite person, I've decided to knock on the door. There wasn't any response from inside. I raised an eyebrow and knocked again. Nothing.

'I'm coming in, Orchid,' I said as I opened the door.

She was sitting on the bed in shock. 'Who are you?' she frowned.

Unlike her usual self, her waist length white hair was let loose, bandages loosely wrapped around her head. I took a nearby stool as Mir sat on the ground near the bed. She eyed at it warily. 'Don't worry,' I said to her as I sat on the stool, leaving my weapon leaning against the wall. 'We're not going to attack you. Rest assured.'

She examined my appearance. 'If you are here to get answers from me, you can forget it. My lips are sealed.' She looked away. 'I will never tell you about the Black Wing's plans.'

'I'm not here to ask you this.' She turned back, frowning. 'I'm here to visit you, leader of Black Wings, and one of Black Mage's commanders.'

She bit her lower lip. ' _Visit_?' she scoffed. 'Don't say it as if we are close friends. I don't even _know_ you.'

'We've met for a brief moment of time, though you may not remember me,' I smiled at her. 'I had, too, worked under Black Wings a while back, when I was a dumb kid. I didn't know Black Wings was an organization in an attempt to revive the Black Mage back then.' She remained silent. I continued. 'We haven't seen each other ever since the incident in Evolving System.' She gripped on the white blanket covering her legs tightly. 'How are you?'

'Alive. Can't you see?'

I chuckled. 'With your mouth running the same, I guess you are fine now. Xenon wasn't lying.'

'Are you done now? I'm tired. I want to rest.'

'Speaking about Xenon, he wanted to tell you about Lotus.' Orchid stopped her actions, her eyes widened. 'They found him inside Verne Mines, your territory. The Resistance are checking the whereabouts as we speak.' She attempted to leave the bed, but I caught her hand. 'You're still weak, Orchid. Aren't you tired? Stay on the bed.'

'I'm going to see Lotus. Let me go!' she yelled, struggling to break free.

'If you are as strong as you used to be, your powers could easily break through my grip. Now sit down and listen as I say, Orchid. You don't have a chance against Gelimer, now he has control over your twin brother. Even if the Resistance found him, they wouldn't attempt to hurt him.'

She knew I was right and stopped struggling. Biting her lower lip, she returned to her bed. 'All of you are so soft-hearted. You should have killed me when you have the chance. I was the one who ordered you to defeat the guard protecting the seal stone of Ludibrium, created chaos in Orbis with the super growth potion, and to obtain the key from Shammos in exchange of Zombie Teeth,' Orchid confessed. 'Now you know it, why don't you kill me, right now? I am the one who gave the orders for you to turn things awry.'

'I'm not interested into killing anyone who is in a state too weak to fight against me,' I replied, smiling. 'Maybe next time.'

She scoffed at my response. 'What a kind person you are. That kindness will one day bring you misery.'

'It is the fate of all Evans to be kind and optimistic, and I cannot escape this fate as well,' I looked down on the floor. 'It is precisely so that we will continue smiling and walk forward no matter how grave the situation will be ahead, even if all the other heroes would fall down to their knees.'

'Hmph.'

'Wendeline is concern of your health. Perhaps you should talk to them more. Even if you refuse to tell them about your plans, you should at least stick with them until your strength returns.'

'Who are you to order me, Evan?' she scowled at me. 'I will do as I please.'

'If you say so.' I smiled at her and got up from my seat. 'Well, the main purpose of me being here is to check on you. Since you're healthy, I'm glad. If you want to, you can ask Claudine to bring you along when they visit Verne Mines again. Then you can find your twin brother back.'

'I'm tired. I'm going to rest.' She then lay herself on the bed, then pulled the blanket to cover herself. I smiled at her response and left the room. I took Ace's hot air balloon and returned to Henesys once more. As promised, I came back before midnight. I then tossed myself to bed for rest.

The next morning, Prefect woke up earlier than usual. I was biting a short French loaf while attempting to make Mir eat the bread without meat as it kept on moving its head left and right to reject it. He extended his hand towards me. I frowned at his hand and looked at his face. 'The poster,' he replied sleepily.

I put down the two breads on my hand and pulled out the poster from my bag, and handed it to him. He took it, nodding as he went through the interdimensional portal to put it up again by taking a chair. 'Bacon's ready,' Elwin said from the kitchen. Mir immediately stopped moving its head around and I took the attempt to shove the bread down its throat.

 _No! I don't want to eat plain bread!_

Mir, eat it. I glared at the huge dragon in front of me. It isn't spitting out the bread, nor was it swallowing it. Elwin carried a plate with hot piping bacon towards the dining table. 'Gee, your dragon sure is a fan of meat,' Elwin chuckled at our staring contest. 'Have you been feeding it with bacon only in the past?' I took a bite off my bread and laid it down on the table.

'No, it was fond of bacon ever since he had the teeth to bite them. Once the quest wanted me to feed it with bacon when it had weak, baby teeth, and it couldn't eat it, so when it had the chance, it tried bacon once more, and fell in love with bacon.' I picked up the oily bacon and Mir delightfully opened its mouth as I put it down on its tongue. Afterwards it finally swallowed a part of its breakfast, to my relief. After breakfast, I wore back my Dragon Tail Mage Robe and applied the illusion potion onto the dragon while Elwin reverted into his dog form and went to school before me.

Towards the bridge, I received a call from Lily. Did I miss something from her? 'Hello. I just wanted to tell you that you are quite the good listener yesterday, but you seemed tired so I hold off. Because of that, the darkness in Orchid's mind has lightened quite considerably. Though, I'm keeping an eye on her, just in case. Thanks to you, we don't need to worry about Troublemakers.'

'Oh. Thank you. Good work.'

'And one more thing. Francis came back to the infirmary this morning, waiting impatiently for you. You should drop by.'

'Will do.'

'He'll cheer up if you show him the picture of her you took yesterday. See you soon, Evan.'

I headed straight towards the infirmary. I saw Oz and Irena were there, too. 'Hey Evan. Looks like this guy returned here again,' Irena said to me when I approached her. Oz waved at me. 'Yesterday, he refused to leave the infirmary and insisted to wait until you come back. Nineheart had to use his authorities to get him out of the room.'

'Where were you, Evan?' Oz asked, tilting her head to the side.

'Some things happened,' I chuckled, then walked towards the saddened Francis on the bed.

'I'm dying… ow, ow, ow… Did you bring her photo?' Francis muttered with a hopeful look.

'Here it is.' I showed him the photo I took yesterday. 'Sorry for the delay.' Immediately he grabbed my phone and stared at the picture displayed intensely.

'Yes, this is it! Orchid in the rain… incredible!' Then he proceeded to stare at the picture, ignoring the three of us in the background. I asked him for my phone back, but he didn't seem to hear it at all, completely absorbed with Orchid's picture as he giggled in amusement.

'By the way, Evan,' Oz said from behind.

'Hmm?' I turned around.

'Is it true that you were talking to Orchid on the bus yesterday?' Her eyes sparkled in joy at the news. Wow, it was just yesterday, and there were only two male students from our school on that bus. The information transfer in this world is shocking. 'How did you get friendly with her?'

'Well…' I scratched the back of my head. 'She caught me following her and told me about her story of betrayal which made her unable to trust others, thus acting cold towards everyone else, even though she was afraid and lonely inside. I merely listened to her story, then she asked for my number. I guess we are… friends now?' I shrugged.

'That's some serious topic,' Irena crossed her arms. 'So you've accidentally become friends with her, right?' I nodded at her.

'I thought she was temperamental, and now I know she has the reason to be so,' Oz said, pitying her. 'Deep inside, she's a lonely girl.'

'I still don't like her, but at least for now, I feel more forgiving towards her,' Irena said, looking away.

'What am I doing?' Francis muttered. I'm surprised that he was listening. He got off from the bed and handed back the phone to me. 'I'm so helpless. I shouldn't be giggling, looking at her picture. She's drowning in loneliness even at this moment!'

I supposed so. Irena sighed. 'At least now you realize you're helpless.' Oz nodded in agreement of her words.

'Too slow,' the red haired girl with a side ponytail added. Francis bit his lower lip at both girls' responses.

'All right, I've decided!' he said, his face filled with determination. I raised an eyebrow at his sudden increase of energy. 'I can do anything to comfort her lonely heart. I'm going to confess my love for her!'

If Hawkeye was here, I imagined him cheering him on. Francis surely could learn a few from Hawkeye's mettle even after being rejected by many.

Francis went back to the bed to take his bag placed at the side. He pulled it up to the bed and started searching for something from the bag. Irena and Oz looked at him, puzzled. Then he pulled out a white envelope. I sighed. I know where this is going. Francis then handed the letter to me. 'Here, Evan. I've written this letter one last time to convey my true feelings to her.'

'Why… to me?' I frowned.

'I don't want to deliver it myself, lest it get ruined by my sweaty palms. Could you deliver it to her? Send her my love. I'll be waiting for her at the rooftop at lunch break, with my fingers crossed.'

I looked at the letter. 'Well… Just this time.'

He smiled. 'Thank you.'

 _Master, you're busy as ever. You keep on taking on other people's request._

I guess. If I didn't, you would be yapping all day about how cruel I am.

 _I wouldn't! Well, I don't yap, but anyway…_

The school bell rung. I guess I should wait till then to send her the letter. Francis followed me back to the classroom afterwards. He seemed somewhat nervous while excited of his new goal. I hoped it would work out fine for him. I got out of the class as soon as I could and went to the second grade's classroom to find Orchid. Cassandra and Miss Appropriation was about to leave the classroom when I bumped into them. 'I keep seeing you, transfer student. What brings you?' Cassandra asked while I took a quick glance into the classroom. Orchid wasn't there.

'I'm looking for Orchid. Do you happen to know where she is?' I gave her an apologetic look. I kept on asking her questions about Orchid. Definitely she was thinking that I was that obsessed with her.

Cassandra sighed. 'Orchid again?' She shook her head. 'She went to the music room. She said she wanted to practice singing. Don't say I didn't warn you, but I don't think she's happy with people who come to see her every recess. She looked tired.'

I nodded. 'Thanks for the warning. I guess you don't hate her as much as I think you do.'

Cassandra scowled, which was quickly replaced by a frown. 'What? Is it… is it that obvious?'

I replied her with a chuckle, then waved good-bye as I headed towards the stairs. I think I saw it on the fourth floor. I head upstairs towards the end of the hallway. A sign on the last room was a music note. I was right. I wanted to enter right away, but I hear someone singing inside. It would be rude if I were to interrupt her singing session, so I waited until she stopped. Her voice was, surprisingly, melodious. Not many in Maple World sings as there weren't any songs for them to sing. I've heard that Mercedes has a great voice, but I have yet to hear her sing a tone as she was too busy.

I heard Orchid ended her singing with a deep sigh. I wonder why. I knocked on the door. A brief moment later, she replied coldly, 'What is it?'

'Sorry to let you see my face again, but I need to talk to you for a moment. Can I enter?' I asked politely.

'Sure.'

 _Elwin is here, Master, but so is Orchid. Do I need to enter as well?_

Let me confirm the situation first. I slid open the door. I spotted Elwin hiding under one of the benches placed in the music room. He must be keeping an eye on Orchid's condition. After all, she may create a Troublemaker in a moment's notice. 'I wondered who you were,' she said in a condescending tone. 'What's up, stalker?' Don't come in, Mir.

'I told you I'm not your stalker.' I reached out for the letter inside my pocket and handed it to her. 'For you, from your stalker.'

She looked at the letter and I could see her blushing, even though it was subtle. My bad feeling was right. I didn't know it would turn out this way. 'Wait, did you decide not to pretend anymore?' She snatched the letter away from my hand and looked away. 'We just talked yesterday, and suddenly you're confident. I know I'm cute, pretty, and charming, but…' she trailed off, searching for appropriate words to reply. I swallowed my urge to cough at her words again. 'Ugh, we've just met and this is too sudden!' She was probably at the point where she couldn't think and just threw whatever she had in mind. 'I'm not prepared for your straightforwardness. I need to think about this…' Then she quickly looked back at me. 'Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I have feelings for you! I'm just saying…' she trailed off again.

I waited for a moment for her to follow up with her last sentence, but she kept on looking back and forth from the window to her left and me. I couldn't help but laugh. She blinked at me, puzzled while embarrassed. 'I told you that it wasn't me,' I said, grinning. 'Your stalker's name is Francis, and he's a first grader like me. He told me to give you this letter in his stead.' Her face stiffened and her gaze downcast. 'Don't look so sad. He's waiting for you on the rooftop to hear your answer in person.'

'I'm not sad!' she put up a brave face. I laughed again.

'Say whatever you want, Orchid, but as you had mentioned, it is too sudden,' I replied to her indirect confession with a smile. Her eyes widened and I could see her shoulders tensed at my words. 'You should think about it for a longer period of time.' I turned around. 'I'd better go now, and you should, too. Don't want to keep your stalker waiting, do you?'

 _I'm surprised that you're calm after you knew she like you, Master._

I'm not really calm. I am trying not to be too emotional attached to them. I left the music room and entered the hallway before it. A moment later, the door to the music room opened and closed, followed by Orchid walking by the hallway with a grim look. I wonder if I was a little too forgiving on her. There will come a time where I would need to leave without giving the details of my disappearance. She had fallen for the wrong person. I happened to be at the wrong place and time. Oz called me after I thought about my actions. 'Evan, did you give his letter to Orchid? Francis had already went up to the rooftop.'

'I just did.'

She giggled. 'He's more likely to be rejected, but who knows? Aren't you curious to know how this will turn out?'

I chuckled. 'I sure am.'

'We can't miss out on such a spectacle, can we? Come up to the rooftop now!'

I went as fast as I could. I could see Francis standing in the middle, calming himself down by breathing in and out deeply. Oz and Irena were behind the air conditioner unit, and Chief Knight of Fire gestured me to come over as Chief Knight of Wind smiled at me. 'Good luck, Francis,' I said as I walked past him. He nodded and forced a smile. He's nervous again. The wind on the rooftop was, as usual, big and cooling.

 _Master, wouldn't it be bad to see how it would turn out? I mean… you, of everyone, should know how this ends! Seoul's Orchid had just given you an indirect confession! I feel bad for Seoul's Francis…_

Well, she may change her mind when she learns how much Francis cared for her. Who knows? He did many things for her. His dedication is real, and better than what I've done to her so far. Don't block them too, Mir.

'Keep your umbrella out of sight, Evan. You don't want to blow our covers,' Irena whispered. I nodded and shoved it into the nearby bushes.

A moment later, the recipient of Francis's letter had arrived. The three of us peeked out to the duo standing in the middle of the school's rooftop, with Oz peeking through the gaps of the air conditioner unit as she was in between both Irena and I.

'Are you Francis?' she looked at her with her usual smug look.

'Yes, that's right.' Francis blurted out shakily. I could see his hands shaking as much as the leaves on the bushes in the small garden from the wind. Then there was silence.

'Hmph, that fool. I could hear his voice trembling,' Irena judged silently as she shook her head.

'Tsk, tsk. He forgot everything we taught him,' Oz tittered. 'This will end in tears.'

Orchid was the first one to initiate the conversation after the brief exchange of words. 'What do you want?'

Francis fidgeted with his fingers. 'Um… did you read my letter?' he said sheepishly.

'No, I threw it away.' She said it so harshly that I winced.

'T-threw it away?' He was baffled. 'How could you?!'

'How could I?' she scoffed. 'Let me tell you this once: I'm _not_ interested in dating anyone. So, just _give up_.'

'B-but…' He looked on the ground, loss of words. Irena and Oz sighed in sync. I sighed as well. What a tragedy befall in front of my eyes.

'Now you have my answer. Bye now.' She turned around without a second glance and headed towards the door.

'W-wait!' Francis yelled after she had taken two steps. Orchid turned around with a frown. He looked away for a moment, then asked, 'Why aren't you interested into dating anyone?'

Orchid snorted. 'Isn't it obvious? You're just _like_ the others. You think you like me because I'm on TV, because I'm a star.'

'No!' He clenched his fists and met her gaze. Orchid was startled. 'I don't care if you're famous or not!' She didn't respond and he took a few deep breaths. It looks like he had become composed. 'The first time I saw you, I didn't know who you were. You were crying in the rain. You looked lonely.' She narrowed her eyes as I cringed at his words. He continued. 'To me, you're not a TV star, or the most popular girl in school. You're just a little girl who feels terribly lonely inside.'

Orchid remained silent. I was surprised at his comeback. Maybe it will work. 'I may not look much, but I care about you more than anyone else,' Francis said. He was serious.

'You care about me.' She repeated his words. He nodded.

'I'd really love to go out with you. If you allow me a place in your heart, I'll keep the rest of your heart warm. I swear on everything I have.' In the name of Maple Goddess, I hope this would end soon. I couldn't help but cringe.

'Ugh, I couldn't help but cringe,' Irena spoke my thoughts out loud. I agreed with her by nodding.

'He sounds corny, but I've got to give it to him. He's learned well,' Oz whispered. She seems to be enjoying this moment very well.

'Yeah, at least he sounds sincere.' Irena murmured as she looked back at the scene ahead.

'Maybe he has a chance,' Oz said.

'Yeah.' I looked back at the confession ahead. The duo were silent for a while now.

Francis shifted his weight onto another leg and broke the silence. 'You don't have to answer me right now. Whenever you make up your mind…'

'Nope, you're too ugly,' she said straightforwardly. Wow, that hurts.

He stiffened and started to turn red and nervous. 'But… I…'

'You're too short, too.' That's adding salt to injury. Francis isn't that short – he's just as tall as Orchid. Though, in terms of height of an average man, he is considered short. But he can still hit puberty as Francis is capable to grow for a few more years. I wouldn't bet on that, though, considering Francis's alter ego's height, which is the same as he is now.

'Ouch…' I murmured. I couldn't help but wince.

'W-well…' Francis's voice is fading.

'You also have short legs,' Orchid added coldly.

If the combo system of Maple World exists here, you could see "3 combos" floating near him, because that is exactly how many hits he had gotten from Orchid's mere words.

'I thought you hated people who liked you because of how you look…' Francis said sheepishly.

'That's true, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about looks. I like tall, handsome men,' she replied harshly. Francis went silent. The situation ahead that once looked hopeful had turned ice cold. After a moment of silence between them, she uttered, 'I guess we're done here. Bye now.' Orchid turned her heels and exited through the door.

Francis flopped down to the ground.

Irena chuckled sadly. 'Wow, she's cruel, but honest.'

'We shouldn't intervene. It'll make him more miserable,' Oz said, then she turned to me. 'Take good care of him, Evan.'

'Doesn't that contradicts your previous statement?' I replied to her. She just gave me a grin. Irena gave me a pat on my shoulder and they both went out from the hiding spot and exited the area without alerting Francis. I sighed and picked up my umbrella. What now? I looked at him, unsure what to do next. They told me to take care of him, but what am I supposed to say to someone who just had their heart broken?

Elwin came towards me with a grim look. He didn't need to say anything. I need to choose my words wisely when dealing with Francis. Should I leave, or should I try to comfort him? I don't think either ways would help reduce the negativity he had in mind.


	13. Chapter 11 (FS Chapter 2)

'Ugh… Orchid…' he moaned in pain, his face still facing the floor.

'Get a grip, Francis. The floor is dirty, you know,' I said while poking him with the umbrella.

'I can't. I'm deeply wounded… I'll never heal…'

'You're quite fine on the outside. It's not as if you could do anything to fulfill her dream man anyway. If you truly love her, chase her until the end of the world! Don't let one rejection make you down,' I said in an attempt to lighten up the situation. He didn't make a sound. I continued. 'Don't worry about it, Francis. There are plenty of women to pick from, just because one rejected you doesn't mean there aren't any others who would accept you.'

'It's not making me better… ugh…' Francis finally got his face up, but he remained seated on the floor. 'I feel the darkness calling me…'

'Francis, get away from it. It wouldn't help you get over the situation. Look at the bright side, you faced your fears and overcome your nervousness. You're winning at the end of the day.'

He started chuckling evilly for no particular reason. Looks like my advice didn't work. Sighing, I opened the umbrella just in time before the piercing light appeared from his body. Elwin groaned when the light blinded his eyes. Upon closing it, I saw a Troublemaker by his side as his body slumped to the ground. He had a red, spiky cap with a letter "M" printed on it. Beneath the hat was a grey bandana. Surprisingly it reminded me of Hawkeye's hat. Two cracked hearts stood by the monster's face. He looked sad, as to reflect Francis's true feelings, with two fists clenched near its slender body. 'Looks like it didn't work,' Elwin said, looking at me. 'Get rid of it, please. I'll use my magic to prevent anyone from entering this area at the time being.'

'Right.' I looked at the Troublemaker ahead. "Torchy Troublemaker. An unrequited love has called forth this troublemaker." No kidding, even its appearance looks sadder than the other Troublemakers I've seen previously. However, I do wonder why it was called "Torchy". It doesn't seemed to be related to fire. 'Mir, Killer Wings and Phantom Imprint,' I said while I casted Magic Guard on myself. 'Let's finish this fast.'

 _All right, Master!_

The Troublemaker didn't know what hit it as it could only see Elwin and me at the scene. I was casting Maple Warrior when it spotted me, and its eyes glowed red. One red sigil with the shape of a broken heart was casted behind him. I raised an eyebrow when the sigil exploded. Was it randomly casted on the map? I took the chance to cast Teleport Mastery. Perhaps Francis didn't even have the will to eliminate those who stood on his way. 'Thunderbolt,' I said as I pointed at it. Lightning struck it hard as its defense was lowered due to Phantom Imprint, but it had more HP than the rest even though it looked weak. The damage over time of Killer Wings drops about one percent of its health every three seconds. 'Illusion.' Mir dealt a quarter of its HP, but it didn't manage to stop on its tracks towards me. One-third of its HP was left. As it approached me, the monster lifted its fist above my head. Mir attacked it with Illusion again. A purple spark followed after it. It was Dragon Spark, triggered from its attack.

But even with the extra boost, it wasn't enough to bring it down. The Troublemaker had little HP left. Its defense sure is high compared to the others. Was it due to Francis's closed feelings? I noticed the monster has shifted slightly to my right from the attack, and the attack narrowly missed me, with the tiles beside me was slightly cracked by the attack. Elwin jumped into the bushes to escape before the shockwave hit him.

'Are you crazy? It would've hit you, Evan!' Elwin yelled from the bushes. Torchy Troublemaker's eyes glowed again, casting a broken heart sigil near Elwin. He yelped and jumped into another bush to avoid the attack. Then the monster raised its fist in front of me. Mir was above us, building up velocity to attack the monster with Illusion. I parried the attack with my staff and teleported forward. Teleport Mastery's additional lightning attacks finished it off with a clean blow. Mir managed to stop before crashing down on the floor when I turned around, creating a gust of wind while the Troublemaker turned grey like the others did, and disappeared as its being was sucked into a small dimensional hole in the middle of it, leaving a red shockwave behind. It was the first time I paid attention to its disappearance and frowned at it being sucked into something. Then I headed towards Francis. He was snoring quietly. It seems that he had fallen asleep.

'Poor thing, he's unconscious,' Lily said from behind. I turned around, surprised of her appearance.

'When did _you_ get here?' I raised an eyebrow at her.

'Just now, in the middle of the fight.' She walked towards Francis and touched his hand with her paw, then shook her feline head.

'Right. It looks like he had fallen asleep,' I looked back at Francis. I need to carry him somewhere else. This isn't a good place for him to rest. I pulled his right hand over my shoulder to carry him.

'Unrequited love is a sad thing in any world,' Elwin said, shaking his head at Francis's appearance.

'I agree.' I glanced at Francis's expression. Despite sleeping, he had a pained look written on his face. I pulled him down the stairs and into the infirmary. He should rest well there. My stomach grumbled when I placed him down on the bed and realized I haven't eaten anything for lunch break. I glanced at the wall clock near Hilla's work desk. Ten minutes before class starts again! I quickly rushed downstairs and took bread for lunch for the day while bought some bacon bread for Mir.

After school, I was ready to leave the school when Oz called me via phone. 'Evan? We're in the infirmary. Francis is okay. He was so heartbroken that he slipped into unconsciousness. Why don't you come to the infirmary to cheer him up?'

'I don't know what I can do to make him better,' I said honestly. My advices ended up spawning a Troublemaker off his negative feelings after all.

'I think he will be better to just see you,' Oz assured me. 'Come on now.'

'If you say so.'

'Great! We'll be waiting for you at the infirmary.'

To my surprise, Cygnus and Hawkeye were there as well. Cygnus was teary eyed for some reasons I don't know. Hawkeye looked grim. Maybe he was here to mourn Francis. 'You came, Evan…' Francis said when he saw me by the door. He forced a smile at me. I nodded and entered the room. 'I failed at love.' His eyes casted down to the floor.

'She just wasn't meant to be with you,' Oz said, trying to comfort him, then she looked at the rest of us. 'Isn't that right?' No one said anything afterwards, leaving Oz hanging and feeling awkward. She turned towards Irena for help. The green-haired third grader flinched at her gaze.

'Well… I don't know what to say, but buck up,' she blurted out.

'Buck up,' Hawkeye repeated her words. 'I've been rejected by girls many times. Don't worry – the world is big and full of girls!'

Cygnus sniffed for his sake. 'It was a short, but intense love.'

'The faster you forget, the better you get. Cheer up, Francis,' Irena added at the end. However, Francis who sat at the end of the bed shook his head.

'No. I've found a new love,' he said.

All of us were taken by surprise of his words, needless to say, with most of us to the point that they were speechless. What, he fell in love with either Irena, Oz or Cygnus? That was fast. 'What, already?' I blurted out.

'But it's too fast!' Oz looked at him in disbelief.

Francis chuckled. 'I've finally realized it's too painful to wait for someone who doesn't love me back. It's better to be loved than to love. It's best that I meet with someone who's in love with me.' I couldn't believe my ears. Who in this school loves him, apart from some dolls he would sometimes bring and bragged it to me of how well made it was? Though, I don't think that actually counts as "love".

'Who's in love with you?' Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at him.

Oz followed after him. 'Who?' She asked curiously, her eyes sparkled.

'That's… you, Evan!'

The answer he gave was so ridiculous that I had dropped by umbrella due to being choked by my own saliva. I was coughing so furiously that Hawkeye was patting at my back. 'Are you okay?' he asked. 'Though, you wouldn't be after that…' Everyone was looking at me in sympathy.

 _Master, what happened? Are you sick?_ Mir asked in concern in the midst of my coughing.

No… I'm not sick… I'm horrified.

When I finally got the saliva out of my throat, Francis chuckled as he continued, 'Evan, you want to be more than friends with me, don't you?'

'In what ways that our little friendship turned into something like that?' I scowled at him. How could he ever spout out such nonsense?!

Cygnus, however, seemed to believe him. 'Oh, really?' she glanced at the both of us, her lips curled upwards. I picked up my umbrella. Ugh, my throat is really dry from all that work…

'Of course not, Cygnus,' I proceeded to correct her. 'Don't believe a word he spouted earlier.' I pulled out a water bottle from my bag to coat my throat with a thin layer of water, hoping it would aid the tingling pain.

'How did you come to that conclusion, Francis?' Oz frowned at him. I would like to know the same as well. How?!

Francis said, 'For the last few days, you took good care of me. Why?'

'Because we're friends?' I told him, frowning.

'And you knew Orchid wouldn't accept my letter, but you still delivered it anyway. Why?'

'I really thought you have a chance.' Too bad, I missed knowing Orchid had such high goals on her partner.

'And you stayed with me while I grieved for my unrequited love. Why?'

'Because you look bad and I don't want others to misunderstand that I have beaten you up into a pulp. Seriously, you were on the ground moaning, and I'm holding an umbrella. Anyone who comes up would thought of that.'

'Fair point,' Hawkeye nodded at my excuse.

Francis didn't see it though. He shook his head. 'Everything was a part of your elaborate scheme to make me notice you in the throes of a broken heart!' he snickered. I looked at him wryly. What on earth? Looks like the last screw on his head had truly came off. 'So, yes, I've made up my mind. Evan, you're loyal to me. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.' I cringed from that sentence. What the hell?! 'No one can stop me. Mwah hah ha!' Everyone else in the room was dumbfounded with the new situation that they had froze on their ground as Francis got off the bed, walking towards me. 'Here, I'll accept your love, Evan!' he said with his hand wide open.

I swung my umbrella-staff at him, slightly holding back just in case what seemingly little STR and weapon attack of both my staff and me would overpower his bones. It was then I remembered that he had once told me he could take three hits from Bully. Now he laid on the ground under my staff as I let out a sigh of relief. I hoped that it would clear his mind of the gutter – whatever it was in as of then. 'Well,' Hawkeye broke the silence a moment later. 'That _was_ fast. Was it a swing that brought Bully to his knees that day?'

'Not quite.' It was his ambitious feelings of trying to win the fight that brought in a monster and temporary stunned him to the ground, with the aid of Mir's presence behind me. He probably thought that it was his imagination that a dragon formed behind me, for dragons can never exist in here.

'Ugh… Evan, why?' Francis slowly lifted his head up. 'But I thought you…' he coughed. '…love me.'

'I've never thought of you more than a friend. You're overcomplicating things when you're in your "throes of broken heart" you spoke of.' I took a step back and rested my staff on my shoulder. There was a honk at the school gates. All of us instinctively looked towards the windows.

'Miss Cygnus!' a person yelled.

'Oh dear,' Cygnus blinked at the voice, then turned towards us. 'Well, I should get going now. See you all tomorrow.' Then she turned towards Oz. 'Will you tell me what happened after I leave?'

'Sure.' Oz beamed at her. She smiled. Chauffeur yelled again, this time it was from the inside of the school building. Cygnus hurried off afterwards, bumping into Mir as she stopped briefly as she looked around, surprised.

 _Oops. My bad, Master. I was too engrossed with the conversation of Francis's misunderstanding of your love to him as a friend._ It chuckled nervously. _I hope you don't mind, Master. Right?_

'What's wrong?' Irena asked her.

'Must be my imagination.' She muttered and went downstairs.

 _R-right?_ It asked again, this time slightly flustered.

Francis had gotten up to his feet, his expression hurt. 'Here it comes,' Hawkeye warned when he lifted up his head, facing me.

'I'm not going to give up,' he muttered. 'What matter is my will; my will to be with her, whatever it takes.' I couldn't help but feel the weight on my shoulders had lifted up when he said "her". Oz and Irena exchanged glances, both of them surprised at his answer. 'She may have rejected me, but I have a way to stay with her.'

'Well, glad to hear that he's on the right path again,' Hawkeye whispered. I smiled weakly at him.

'You sound like a man,' Irena complimented him.

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' Hawkeye added as he raised his right fist. 'Yes, you shouldn't give up!'

'So I've prepared… this!' Francis chuckled as he headed to the bed, where his bag lies. He pulled out something amidst the contents of the bag and showed it to the four of us.

Surprise indeed. All of our expression changed back to what it was before. I sighed. I wasn't quite surprised at his attitude, but the way to be with Orchid was too…

 _H-hey, Master?_

'Isn't that… an Orchid doll?' Oz took a step back, frowning deeply at him. Lo and behold, it was an Orchid doll in his hands – a makeshift one, anyway. It was a small, pocket size doll with a rather large head against its body. It looked somewhat similar to Orchid except with red ribbons instead of bunny hairbands that held her twin tails, and a red dress, with a big yellow star at the front.

He giggled in excitement. 'Dolls never betray me. I should've done this from the beginning.' He held the Orchid doll with both of his hand with a creepy smile on his face. 'Real women are hypocrites. Dolls aren't like them.'

'Why…' Irena raged from the sentence. Oz pulled her hand, gesturing to her to not say a thing.

'Real women don't like short men. Dolls don't care,' he sang.

'Looks like it's all over,' I muttered.

'Dolls… dolls are for me,' he giggled as he hugged the doll tightly to his chest. 'What do you guys think? Isn't this the best choice of all?'

'Is that your solution?' Oz asked. 'To be with an Orchid doll forever?'

'Of course,' Francis replied without an ounce of hesitation in his tone. 'I'm going to take her on the bus with me, on the subway with me, to theme parks, and nice restaurants. I'm damaged now. No one can stop me.' He chuckled as looked at the doll again. It slowly turned into a maniacal laugh as he took his bag and walked out of the door.

'Wait. Is this how it's supposed to end? Something doesn't feel right,' Oz turned to the rest of us as he disappeared from our vision.

'Leave him. He's happy.' Irena shrugged, a weak smile formed on her face.

'Unrequited love is a sad thing,' Hawkeye shook his head.

'I'm glad that he's back to Orchid again,' I commented.

Irena laughed. 'That hit really helped him.'

Soon, the rest left to their respective club meetings. I left the nurse's office alone. Mir nudged its head at my back.

 _Master, are you still angry that I was spotted by Cygnus? Why are you ignoring me? Are you mad? I'm really, really sorry…_

I chuckled at it. Mir got mad and almost tipped me over at the edge of the stairs. I held on to the handles of the stairs to keep my balance while laughing at it. _You're horrible, Master. And I thought we're buddies after so long…_

Well, we are, right?

 _Stop teasing me if we are!_

I noticed Orchid standing by the school gates, surrounded by her fans when I reached the door. I wonder why she was still around even though it was this late. She threw a fit by the looks of it, scaring away the male students around her. I approached her after she let out a deep sigh of relief.

Orchid quickly noticed my presence. 'You're late!' she pointed at me with a scowl on her face. 'Do you know how long it was? My time is worth more than gold, and you dared to keep me waiting?'

I frowned at her. 'What are you talking about? You never said a thing about this to me.'

'I sent you a message earlier! How can you not see it?' She crossed her arms, looking away.

I pulled out my phone to check. There was nothing new apart the old message about Nineheart helping Francis out. I showed it to her. 'There was nothing. See?'

She couldn't believe her eyes and pulled out her own phone to check the matter. A moment later, she slid the phone back into her skirt pocket without a word. I think she had forgotten to send it. 'Anyway!' she changed the topic. 'I've met with the first grader as you had told. Now, you have to return the favor of wasting my precious time of training while meeting him and letting me wait while being surrounded by those annoying pests.'

'Uh… okay?'

'I'm usually free in between 8 to 9 o'clock at night,' she continued. 'I'm allowing you to call me at that short period of time. Be honored, stalker, for I have not given anyone a golden opportunity like this before.'

 _Master, what is this? Some sort of trapped laid down by Seoul's Orchid? Did she know that we're here to monitor their movements? Is she trying to get us to leak the details?_

I don't know, but she has a motive behind this for sure. 'Every day?' I asked warily.

She paused briefly before replying, 'Yes, every day.'

'But I'm not interested in stalking you,' I uttered. She definitely is planning something, but I wasn't sure what it really was. 'If you want to speak with me, can't we just do it in school instead?'

'You're an idiot, aren't you?' she scoffed. 'I'm a busy woman, so I don't come to school every day. I'm giving you an opportunity for you to speak to me every day, stalker. Be happy about it. Though, it's not like I'm waiting for you to call me, or anything like that. Don't get ahead of yourself.'

 _Is that her real motive? I feel somewhat disappointed now…_

I guess I was ahead of myself. She just wanted to talk to me. 'Well, I can't completely fulfill this favor of yours. I might miss out a day or two,' I replied earnestly. 'I do forget things sometimes.' I wouldn't want to keep a promise that I can't keep.

'Then remind yourself every time so you wouldn't forget, stalker!' she looked away, hiding away her redden face.

'Also, I'm not "stalker". I do have a name, you know.'

'Oh?' she gave me a smug grin. 'What is it, then?'

'It's Evan.'

'Is that so,' she tossed those three cold words and left Mir and I alone standing awkwardly at the school grounds.

 _Master, did she just… contradicted her tone? I was sure that she was genuinely smiling before she left us._

I don't know. I really do wonder if she fits the word "tsundere". I stopped by Animanga District and brought several new manga. The shopkeeper had an impeccable smile on her face, perhaps extremely happy at the sight of me as I would always buy some of the books before leaving. She tried to offer me some merchandise which costs three folds of one manga, but I declined her offer as I was not too interested in such things. I like how the people of this world depict stories in such an interesting way. I went back to Prefect's house to find him sitting on the couch, staring at the thin, rectangular thing called "TV". On it was a show with Orchid in it. To my horror, she looked kinder in the screen than the reality she lives in.

'Oh, welcome back,' Prefect said without shifting his eyes away from the screen.

'What's that?' I asked curiously as I sat beside him. I felt Mir's breathe on my neck, and judging by his expression, he felt it, too. 'Mind lifting your head up, Mir?'

'Sorry.' Mir proceeded to rest its head on mine. It was doing it on purpose. The dragon seemed to be angry at my behavior earlier. I doubt a simple apology would work, so I ignored it.

'It's a drama series where Orchid stars in. Apart of singing, she does acting and also a host for a cooking show called "Orchid's Cooking Contest",' Prefect replied excitedly. 'Man, does she look this pretty in reality, too? I would like to speak to her one day.'

'You seem to be a big fan of hers.'

'Of course I am. She literally has no flaw, can't you see? Orchid has it all - good looks, talent in singing and acting, good personality – you name it. She's the idol of everyone these days,' Prefect replied. 'I bet she has many friends in school too, judging from her popularity.'

'I wouldn't say that,' I uttered, crossing my arms. She may be popular, always crowded by the students no matter where she goes, but I doubt she has many friends. This is only deduced by what she told me. Wait, does she acknowledge me as a friend, then? She acted cold on me, but sometimes she seemed to show me a part of her real self.

'You're probably saying that because she has more friends than you,' Prefect laughed at my response. 'Don't worry, you have Elwin, Lily, and me for you. We're friends, right?'

'Master has me, too!' Mir added. Prefect grinned.

'Yeah.'

'What do you think?' Prefect turned to me when another completely different thing popped out in between the so-called "drama". 'Isn't it nice? She's really good at the show business, right?'

'I guess so,' I shrugged at him. I don't quite understand the show business in this world yet. He scowled at me briefly before realizing a fact.

'Hmph, it doesn't matter if you're a fan of hers or not. You have another Orchid in Maple World, right? You might be a fan of her, too.'

I laughed. 'Fan of Maple World's Orchid? You must be crazy. She's our _enemy_ , Prefect. The next time the alliance and her meet when she recovered, it'll be _war_. The leader of the Black Wings is not the same as the idol in this world you've just seen in that screen of yours.'

Prefect blinked. 'Leader of the Black Wings? Does that mean that she's the top of Black Wings Production, then? I knew it! Orchid has the talent to be the best among everyone else!'

'What?' I raised an eyebrow.

'The company that raises her into fame in singing is a production company. Its name is Black Wings Production.'

'Oh… Maybe. Our worlds are parallel to each other, though I don't know if everything else is similar, like your theory of Orchid being the best in "Black Wings Production",' I said bluntly. 'So, how do you find Maple World?'

'Changing the topic, eh?' He turned back to the screen dreamily. 'Well, it's a rather interesting fantasy world. I don't see the fact why you would be so afraid of my safety here. I could walk out of the house and a few portals away, and yet I'm still having my limbs around. Also, I've been practicing archery, and Athena Pierce is rather pleased with my results. She would give me some chores around Henesys, like hunting some monsters nearby for Camilla and Maria. I would like it if she would allow me to venture out to the other towns as you've shown me before. There's nothing to fear at all.'

Before I could do it, Mir started laughing as if it had heard a good joke. Elwin and Lily just came back to find an odd laughter echoing in the living room. The brown haired teenager flinched and hid behind his sister. 'W-w-who's there?' he called out from her back. 'I'm not afraid of you!'

'Elwin, it's just Mir. The invisible potion has yet to fade off,' Lily replied, sighing at his behavior. 'Get away from me.'

He braced himself to move forward. When he touched Mir's scales, it stopped laughing, and he sighed in relief. 'Ugh, you're scaring me, Mir. Remove the effects of the invisible potion, please. I don't want to accidentally bump into you afterwards.' Its invisibility faded shortly after his words. 'So? Were you guys watching a comedy show? Why is the dragon laughing so much?' Lily peered at the screen and sighed when she saw Orchid.

'We were just talking about his experience in Maple World,' I answered.

'What? You guys are freaking out for no reason of this "Black Mage" you mentioned. I couldn't find a single threat around your world. I would say that Seoul would be as safe as Henesys,' Prefect gave his statement to Elwin. The siblings' expression turned grim at the word of the antagonist of Maple World. Prefect couldn't comprehend their expression. 'What?' he turned towards me. 'Am I wrong?'

'You are not completely wrong, but you're not completely right, either,' I smiled. 'Victoria Island is considered the safest areas available in Maple World, especially in Henesys as many adventurers would venture here to get to Pantheon. However, not all towns are as safe as Henesys.'

'Well, the monsters wouldn't scare us, right? There's no way anyone could lose to such beings –'

'The normal monsters are not much of a threat,' Elwin cut him off. 'What's worse are Maple Bosses, and certain Elite Bosses that would randomly spawn in certain maps. Depending on the level of the monsters, their ability could be at par as Maple Bosses.'

'Even though they're mostly clones, it doesn't mean that they're not harming Maple World as we speak. Yes, there are many adventurers who would kill them daily to weaken the state of the bosses, but…' Lily trailed off.

'The war is far from over,' I completed her sentence. 'Especially in Ariant, Leafre, Pantheon, and Temple of Time. They have the worse state among the rest as stronger monster bosses lies ahead. We needed to team up to beat them. But there's another problem about this. Some of us quitted this never-ending battle and rest in their homes. While there are new comrades, they're not quite ready to face them yet. They lack of experience and equipment to do so. The lack of stronger comrades had made the boss clone hunts harder and harder as time goes on. This will make them gain back a little of their original strength, making their clones stronger as well.'

Prefect took some time to absorb what I had just said. 'But… you're not in the frontlines even though all of that is happening while you're in Seoul. Aren't Maple World in trouble then?'

'The Maple Heroes are there. So far I've never received anything from them, so it must be fine. Plus, Evans don't do too much damage compared to the rest of the classes. If they want my help, they would ask for me.' I shrugged. 'Well, this conversation took quite the turn. Aren't you suppose to watch Orchid's drama? I should get out of this sweaty uniform soon.'

'You haven't taken a shower yet?' Elwin flinched. 'We agreed that you'd come back first so you can take the bath first, since you and your dragon would take such a long time in there!'

I chuckled. 'Go on now. I can wait.'

After lunch, I started to do my homework. As the sun sets, I realized Prefect was still watching the television. I didn't paid much attention of it earlier, so I've decided to see what it was that made him sit there for such a long period. Elwin was coincidentally there too for some reasons, perhaps he was secretly a fan of Orchid. A random show appeared after what seemingly looked like a suspense. It was about a broom which has eyes and hands that would sweep around the room.

'My name is Broom-y, in a room-y; I'm very busy, for I'm sweeping dusty!' The broom spoke on the screen. Elwin and I looked at in awe at the sight of it.

'Why are the both of you getting excited over an advertisement?' Prefect asked us. It was then I realized he was frowning at us.

Elwin quickly replied, 'Can't you see? The broom is talking! It has eyes and a mouth, it could rhyme and it could sweep itself! That's truly a genius invention! The humans in Seoul is amazing!'

'What?' Prefect was baffled.

'You said your world don't have any magical stuff, but what's that on the screen? Isn't it magic?' I asked. 'Even Maple World don't have a talking broom! What level is it? Can I beat it?'

'Whoa, whoa,' Prefect raised his arms in surrender. 'That is just a CG. It doesn't exist at all in my world.'

'CG?' Both Elwin and I asked in sync.

'Short for "Computer Graphic". It means that it was drawn via a computer – wait, do you know what a computer is?' Both of us nodded. Prefect frowned at us. 'It's just to attract attention, both its quotes and appearance. There's no such broom that could sweep itself, really.'

'Then I'll just make it exist! This time, the world will finally acknowledge what a genius I am!' Elwin said cheerfully, then left the couch into Maple World. He walked past Lily who was coming down the stairs and she frowned at him. She then looked at the both of us.

'What's gotten into him?' she asked us. Both of us shrugged.

After dinner, I looked at the clock. It was eight o'clock. I remembered the favor (or rather, a "promise" I have yet to agree with) Orchid told me earlier. I wonder what her response would be when I called her. I had a funny feeling that she would continue to call me "stalker" no matter what. I dialed her number under Mir's curious stare and waited for the other person to pick up.

'Hello? Evan?' Orchid's voice replied.

'I thought you wouldn't remember my name,' I teased.

'What are you saying, stalker?' she chuckled nervously. 'I said I could talk between 8 and 9p.m., so you called on time. You really are a stalker! I've got goosebumps right now.'

'But you asked me to call you. It was written all over your face.'

'It wasn't! I wasn't anticipating your call _at all_.'

'Okay,' I murmured. 'What are you doing right now?'

'What am I doing, you ask? Why, so you can stalk me? Just hang up!' And with that, she hung up the phone. I sighed as I removed it from my ear.

'Are you surprised, Mir?' I looked at the dragon. It shook its large head at me. 'Me neither. Looks like I have quite the number of nicknames in school now.'

'Who did you call?' Lily walked over to the living room and asked.

'Orchid.'

She narrowed her eyes. 'Aren't you quite the fan?'

'The only fan of hers in this house is Prefect. Don't lump me in with him.' Prefect entered the living room with a scowl after washing the dishes.

'Well, what happened in school? Did you really call Orchid?' he asked.

Lily started grinning. 'Oh, don't you dare,' I scowled at her.

He looked at the white haired girl. 'Do tell, please!'

'A guy confessed to Evan,' Lily laughed. 'All because he was trying to act nice to him. The guy was rejected by Orchid and ended up jumping towards Evan.' I felt the chills crawling all over my body upon remembering the incident. Prefect casted a look of sympathy at me. 'You should've accepted him. He's cute in his own ways.'

'For the love of Rhinne, _no_.'

'Lily, you cannot force homosexuality onto someone,' Prefect said, taking my side. Mir nodded in agreement.

She grinned mischievously. 'So, Francis has gone back to following Orchid since you gave him a good beating. Good job. Keep up the good work at the school, Evan.'

'You beat the poor guy up?' Francis looked at him, surprised.

'I only swung the staff at him once,' I assured him. 'He's not going to stay in any hospital, since I did held back.'

'That would be a crime. The police officer nearby might get you in jail for beating someone up over a short-term affection.'

I remembered Helena from his statement and realized I haven't been seeing her around these days. I hoped I won't be seeing her a lot, but I know Nineheart had been keeping an eye on me for a while now. I wonder if she had a talk with him about my lying habits.

My phone vibrated several times during the conversation. After Lily's departure, I handed some manga to Prefect who had been bugging me about it for days now, then looked into my messages. It was from Cygnus, commenting about one of the famous books Elwin had recommended to me a while ago. "Losers in Paris is fun. It's the story of humble love between two poor people… It's very touching." I raised an eyebrow. Did Cygnus really read the book properly? It wasn't what I remembered. Her message was replied by Irena who said to her, "The male lead is a tycoon heir, you know.'

Cygnus replied innocently, "Oh I never noticed." Oz sent six dots. I guess she was speechless. It was obviously written towards the end of the story. Perhaps Cygnus was too engrossed with other matters that she had accidentally skipped through a few words. Who knows?


	14. Chapter 11 extras

After the incident, I noticed Orchid comes to school frequently than before. Francis had commented about this matter too. 'Orchid came today,' he muttered while holding an Orchid doll in his hands. 'She didn't need to come today to fulfill the minimum attendance though… Did I miscalculated her schedule?'

'You know her schedule?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Yes, like the back of my hand. Perhaps today, I may be able to…' he started chuckling as he pulled out a white envelope from his pocket. 'I'll put it beside the refreshments in the music room during recess.'

There was art class today. Apparently Mr. Spiegelmann had returned and is determined to teach the school art once more. He requested us to draw a portrait of a bouquet of random flowers in a vase as the class surrounded the object, with us equipped with paint, brushes, paper, and an easel. I made a simple drawing of it. Elwin barked softly to attract my attention. He somehow managed to turn all of his laughter into barks when I had finished with my drawing. Spiegelmann stroked his mustache and shook his head in disappointment. 'Even a kindergartener could do better than this,' he said. 'Do it again.'

Hawkeye called me during lunch break. 'Come up to the rooftop. Looks like Francis' down for the count,' he gave a swift explanation. I went to the location to find him grieving over his second rejection. The three Chief Cygnus Knights surrounded him, with Mihile giving some words of encouragement of his lost love.

'You should give up,' Eckhart told him coldly as I approached the group.

'Eckhart!' Mihile hissed. 'You shouldn't kick him down while he's trying to get up!'

'Just telling the truth.' The Chief Cygnus Knight of Darkness shrugged.

I kept my distance with Francis and kept my mouth shut just in case a similar incident occurred again. Hawkeye seemed to understand it and the four of us looked at him as he wailed his problems away. When he was finally calm after five minutes with Orchid doll in hand, we escorted him to the cafeteria as he held the Orchid doll tightly in his hands. Everyone was staring at him, and the three of us pretended to not be involved with him.

'Eat up. It will remove you from sorrows,' Hawkeye advised him as he sniffed. 'Get the super-size ramen from the canteen lady. It should do the trick.'

'B-but I don't have the money or will to eat anything…' Francis muttered. 'I just want to sit down… somewhere with Orchid here…'

While he was forcing Francis to eat something, I saw a glimpse of a blue ponytail at the entrance of the canteen. Was it the strategist I saw? I shook my head and brought some ramen. Oz, Irena and Cygnus came by and sat beside us as we talked about the recent incident. They attempted to cheer Francis up after knowing that he had faced his second rejection. 'Don't give up, Francis. Don't let her beat you!' Irena said.

 _Master, looks like Nineheart is spying on everyone. Should you call him up for a gathering?_

I doubted he would join in. I glanced at the entrance and saw a glimpse of the blue ponytail again. I know for a fact that he isn't a very good hider.

The weekend came. I stayed up again to read manga and slept in. I woke up about ten in the morning. I overheard an argument as I headed into the kitchen in Elwin's house. Lily, Elwin and Prefect sat on the table while they play some sort of card game.

'No, slime is the cutest monster in Maple World!' Elwin protested.

'What are you saying? Pink Bean is the cutest,' Lily shook her head and placed a card at the center of the table. 'Your turn.'

'I can't wait to see them. I wonder what Evan would say. Plus four!' Prefect said. I placed two breads into the toaster.

'Argh!' Elwin cried. 'Not fair – you're both teaming up against me!'

'You're just too slow to realize it,' Lily replied.

I brought the brown toasted breads to the dining table. The cards they play had a white background and with colored numbers in the middle. Some of them were symbols. There were only four colors – red, blue, yellow and green. Lily tossed a black background card with all four colors printed on it. 'Evan, help me out!' Elwin said as I sat down. 'We're going to kick their ass in this game!'

'I don't even know how to play this. I'll watch you guys play, and I'll learn while I eat,' I yawned. Lily murmured "red" at the background.

'Well, what do you think, Evan? What is the cutest monster you've ever encounter in Maple World?' Prefect asked as he tossed a green number two onto the small pile in the center of the table while I ate the bread.

'It's definitely Slime, right?' Elwin grinned as he placed green number five at the pile.

Lily showed an evil grin and placed a green card that had an image of two cards and the word "+2" showed at the corner of the card. 'Plus two. The cutest monster is none other than Pink Bean.'

Prefect had a panned look on his face as he mercilessly tossed a red card plus two into the pile. 'Well, what do you think, Evan? Which one is the cutest?' Elwin was smiling in glee as he threw a black background card with "+4" written on the corner.

'Red,' Elwin said.

'Darn it,' Lily clicked her tongue and took six cards from a neatly stack of cards beside the small pile. Elwin laughed at her.

'I would say Horntail is the cutest among all.'

Everyone stopped playing and looked at me. The Manipulation Master and the Barrier Master who knew what I was saying looked at me in disbelief while Prefect frowned at me. 'It doesn't sound very "cute",' Prefect commented. 'How does it look like?'

'Let me search for it. I have a drawing of it somewhere.' I finished up the rest of the first bread and searched through the bag that was with me for five years, and ongoing.

'Don't trust him. He can't even draw. It's best if we bring you there, but… you might die,' Elwin said. 'During art class two days back, he couldn't even draw the flowers. It looked like a kid's drawing, and the art teacher agrees on that fact too.'

'So that horrible drawing among the pile was his?' Lily covered her mouth to cover some laugh. 'I could imagine how he drew Horntail with that "skills" of his.'

I ignored them and pulled out the drawing of Horntail. 'Here.'

Prefect hesitated to receive it. Perhaps he didn't want to hurt my feelings, he took it away from my hands eventually and opened up the roll of paper. The siblings chuckled when he looked at the drawing with his mouth open. 'Oh. My. God,' Prefect looked at me with his eyes wide open. 'How on earth is this even _cute_?! It looks _horrible_ and _terrifying_! Is this considered as one of the Maple Bosses? This thing is huge!' Elwin and Lily were surprised at his comment and left their seats to see the picture.

'What? It's adorable,' I replied while biting another piece of the bread. 'Mir is better, though. It isn't considered a monster.'

'You _drew_ this?' Elwin looked at me, horrified, then looked at the picture again. 'You must be lying. How could you draw Horntail so well when you can't even draw some flowers on a vase? It's not even moving!'

'Oh, God,' Lily was decently surprised. 'Have you drawn Pink Bean and Slime? We should be able to show the otherworldly student regarding of the other monsters in Maple World.' I shrugged at her and searched through my bag to find the sketchbooks I had. I don't seem to find them, probably left it back at home. Lily had returned to her seat when I lifted my head up.

I shook my head. 'I don't think I have.'

'Looks like Elwin and Lily had misunderstood your drawing talent,' Prefect smiled. 'Surely you can draw some flowers in a vase well, right?'

'I wasn't lying. He drew some crappy line art of the flowers. It looked like a cheap effort compared to the Horntail drawing we saw,' Elwin told him.

'Well, let's get the game going. Whose turn is it now?' Lily picked up all her cards on the table and looked around. Prefect and Elwin exchanged glances. It seems that it was my fault that I had confused them during their gameplay. Lily sighed heavily when no one answered. 'Well, I'm starting first.' I continued watching them playing the game. Surprisingly, they didn't say much since they saw the drawing. I wonder why.

Approximately twenty minutes later, Prefect came out victorious. 'Uno game!' he said as he tossed his final card into the small pile at the center of the table. Both Lily and Elwin glared at him as he cheered happily.

The siblings turned to me. 'Evan, defeat him,' Elwin said grimly.

Thus, another round of game had started. Prefect shuffled the cards into one neat deck and gave us seven cards each, giving us one card at a time by clockwise order. Then, the remaining cards were placed on the table, and he took the first card from the stack and put it at the center table, facing up. It was a blue seven. 'I'm first,' he muttered as he carefully organize his cards before putting a blue three onto the blue seven. 'Next.'

'Which monster do you think is the cutest, Prefect?' Lily muttered as she placed a red three on top of his card. 'Among the monsters you've seen, anyway.'

'Hmmm…' Prefect stopped to think while Manipulation Master placed a red two onto the pile and nudged at me. 'I think the Orange Mushroom is cute. All they do is bounce around with a happy smile on their faces.' I took out a red nine from my hand and placed it at the center of the table.

'Orange Mushrooms…' Elwin licked his lips. 'Oh, I'm hungry now. Can we have Orange Mushroom Noodles for lunch?' He looked at Lily hungrily.

'You're horrible,' Prefect said in disgust as he pulled out a red reverse and put it on the table. 'We're talking about monsters, not food.'

'Hey, but they're food,' Elwin protested. 'Also, they have an infinite spawn, so it's not as if they would extinct like the animals in your world.' I put down a red five on the deck. 'They have been programmed to spawn after their numbers on map have decreased. It doesn't matter anyway.'

'Still… Do you view Slimes, Pink Bean and Horntail as food too?' the otherworldly student asked. Lily coughed as Elwin placed a red plus two at the center.

'Slimes don't taste good. They're… slimy, you know?' Lily attempted to describe Slime's texture with her hands. 'They're… a semi-solid blob of things, and they eat almost everything, including dusts. Their colors change depending on what they eat, and they have a different name for that, too.'

'They have different colors?' Prefect raised an eyebrow. Elwin nodded as Lily placed a plus four at the center of the table. 'What's the color of the Slime you speak off then?'

'It's green in color because of the leaves and grass. Oh, and yellow.'

'What other colors of Slimes exists?' he asked again as he took six cards from the deck. 'Blue? Purple? Red?'

'I've seen green, blue and red ones,' Lily replied and looked at me. 'You're awfully silent, Evan.'

'I'm still in a daze. There are green, blue, red, purple, yellow, gold, silver, black and pink,' I told them as I pulled out a yellow three. 'Each of them have different levels, though their appearances are almost the same, except for the pink slime and the black slimes.'

'What are they called?'

Elwin put down a green three. 'Blue slime is Bubbling, red ones are, well, Red Slimes. Purple ones are Devil Slimes, or in the Future Henesys, called Mutant Slimes, gold ones are Gold Slimes… There's also Silver Slimes, Cube Slimes being the pink, rectangular ones, black slimes are half merged into something else, so there's a lot of names for them.'

'Whoa, whoa… future Henesys?' Prefect frowned. 'What's that?'

Lily placed green four on top of Elwin's card. 'It's a high level area that requires a minimum of level 160 to enter. It's located in Temple of Time. Although we say that it's "Future Henesys", it's merely a fragmented dream created by the Dream Manipulator, one of Black Mage's men. Who he or she really is, we don't really know it yet.'

'It's a girl. Eunwol told me about it,' I said. 'She was the one that made everyone forgets about him until now.'

'Eunwol?' Prefect asked as he placed a green six onto the pile.

'One of the Maple Heroes. It was said that there are only five heroes that sealed the Black Mage in the past, but there are six in total,' Lily explained. 'Mercedes, Freud, Aran, Eunwol, Phantom, and Luminous. Freud was the only one who didn't receive the Black Mage's curse, thus he had died due to the passing years. Evan is his successor.'

Prefect looked at me, surprised. 'I'm not the mentioned Evan, but I am an Evan class,' I said while drawing a card from the deck. It was a red six and I placed it at the small pile in the middle. 'Maple system is quite complex and its story is filled with holes with not much of an explanation, you see.'

Elwin clicked his tongue and reached out to the deck. He had to draw three cards before finally getting a red two to put it on the pile. 'So… if he was forgotten, how did everyone else remembers him now?' Prefect frowned. 'Or rather, how was he forgotten?'

Lily placed a red skip card on the pile. 'Eunwol sacrificed his existence to finish the seal casted on the Black Mage. He… came back to our world and found out no one else could remember him, even his friends. When he crosses dimensions, the world he was in will forget about him, too.'

'Now hold on a minute. If that's the case, how was he not forgotten now?' Prefect looked at all of us. I put down a blue skip.

'Tough question. Do you know the answer to it, Evan?' Elwin asked. Lily started drawing cards from the deck.

'Sort-of. Eunwol became a class too, you see. There are literally thousands of Eunwol in Maple World. Not all of them are active though, so they would stay in towns as they weren't interested to continue the battle. Not the real Eunwol – he continued to fight. As some of the Eunwols remain in the world, regardless of where another Eunwol is going, they will be remembered as there are some Eunwols remained in this dimension.' Prefect looked confused. I chuckled at his expression. 'To make it simple, Eunwol's doppelgangers who remains in Maple World had nullified the effect of him being forgotten as they exist in the said dimension.' She placed a blue one on the pile.

'I don't understand… what's with the real Eunwol and the people with the Eunwol class?' Prefect scowled. 'Do you mean that there's various people of the same person, but they're not the same? Do they merely have the same name, or what?'

'Your turn, Prefect,' she said to him.

'You see, everyone has their own story, right? No one has the exact same life experience as the others,' Elwin told him. 'But the real ones and those who bears the name of them as their classes will have an intersection at some point of their lives – meaning that they would encounter the exact same thing at certain points, and making similar decisions as the real one.'

'Excluding Silent Crusade quests and Elin Forest quests,' I notified him.

'The… argh, don't make him confused!' Elwin scowled. 'Those do _not_ count!' Prefect was bewildered at us while he drew five cards and placed a blue three on the pile.

'Actually, most quests that we encounter would have the similar effect to those who did it,' I added as I placed a blue plus two on the pile. 'We would be told almost the same thing, anyway, and accept their quests.'

'Don't make things complicated than they should be!' Elwin barked. 'Try and explain your existence to him, then!'

'Hmm… Consider me as a doppelganger of Evan. We would encounter the same storyline as Evan, yet certain things we do to achieve the certain levels before the storyline quest is slightly different. All doppelgangers of Evan would be slightly different with each other, like names, gender, equipment used, and things they have encountered beforehand. Sometimes we differ by a generation. Though, we will never meet with Evan – the one who bears the name, and who is the original among all of the doppelgangers.'

'I think I get it, but I'm not sure…' Prefect tilted his head. 'My head is spinning.' Elwin placed a yellow plus two and grinned at Lily.

'I told you. The Maple World system is complex and its story is full of holes,' I beamed at him. 'How about like this – imagine you have thousands of clones that would exist in different times, but you cannot see them at all, yet you know that they exist. All of them bears a different name, and your name is considered as a "class", with them going through almost the same thing as you do – ability, personality, et cetera.'

'That's… kinda scary,' Prefect replied. 'So Eunwol won't be forgotten as his clones remained in Maple World?' I nodded, smiling.

'Plus four, blue. Your turn, Prefect,' Lily said.

'Lucky!' Prefect smirked as he laid down a blue plus two on the pile. 'You're getting it, Evan.'

'Not this time,' I smiled and placed a plus four on the pile. Elwin's face darkened. 'Red, Elwin.'

'I thought we were a team,' he sulked while drawing twelve cards. 'I trusted you!'

'Well, you told me to beat Prefect, but to do so, I need to beat you too, right?' I smiled. 'It's the plan.' Lily giggled. Elwin glared at his sister while she placed a red skip on the pile. Prefect sighed.

'You guys are totally teaming up against me. Heh, we've gone far from our conversation,' Prefect said. 'We were talking about Slimes earlier, too!'

'That's how a conversation flows, Prefect,' I replied, grinning as I put down a red nine on the pile.

'How does Future Henesys looks like? Does it look like a fun place to stay? Is it the same as how Henesys looks now?' Prefect asked after Elwin placed a blue nine on the pile. Lily clicked her tongue and started drawing some cards.

'Not at all. It's in ruins. The only place that considered safe is only in Henesys town. Even the Market Place is filled with the giant Mutant Snails,' I shook my head. 'I remember when I was weak and that area had just opened – you can never believe how many players are there in one map, trying to go through the main quests. They're tough too, especially the boss… It's slightly better now that I have better gears than of that time.' Lily tossed a blue two. The stack in the middle started to become bigger, so Prefect took the cards underneath hers and shuffled them into the deck after arranging them neatly.

'I heard that Future Henesys is a good levelling spot. Is it true, Evan?' Elwin asked while he does so.

'Yes. Or rather, that map considered to be Future Ereve,' I replied. 'Many players would grind there, up to level 200.' Prefect drew two cards and tossed a blue reverse. Lily growled softly and shot a glare at him as he grinned, then she started drawing three cards. She placed the third card on the table – a yellow reverse. He tossed a yellow three above her card.

'Wouldn't it be a surprise for those who were there? Like Henesys's residents and the residents of the place called "Ereve", if they know about it,' Prefect nudged at me.

I placed a yellow three on the pile. 'Cygnus and her Chief Knights knew such place exist. She had a dream about it, too. Naturally, she was taken aback of how she ended up so in the future, but after hearing from the other knights, she was relief to know that it was merely a dream through the items gathered from there. However, she is on guard of her surroundings ever since. If she really turns out like that… we might be in a big trouble.'

'Only time will tell,' Elwin muttered as he tossed a plus four on the pile. 'Blue.' Lily placed a blue plus two onto the pile and turned to Prefect with a smirk on her face.

'Not again…' Prefect grumbled as he took six cards from the deck.

I didn't have the color on hand, so I took two cards. The second card was a wild card, so I put it on the pile as a replacement. 'Green,' I told Elwin. He nodded while checking his cards in hand, then pulled out a green seven.

'I just remembered a dire question,' Prefect said as Lily carefully examined her card on hand. 'Do you view Horntail as a food supply?'

'If you would like to eat a three-headed dragon that had turned into stone, be my guest,' Elwin uttered. 'You can't even harvest its rough skin. Sometimes its horns would fall off before turning into stone and you can create a strong weapon out of it.' Lily put down a green three on the pile and looked at Prefect.

'Your turn,' she said.

'I see,' Prefect nodded and spread his cards on his hand to see his options. 'What do you guys eat, usually?' He pulled out a green four.

'Let's see… Orange Mushroom Noodles, Blue Mushroom Pie, Snail Stew, Evil Eye Tail Soup…' Elwin placed his cards facing down on the table and started counting his fingers. I tossed a green skip to the pile. 'Cold Jellyfish, Slime Pudding, Cold Evil Eye Rolls, Fried Pork, Stirge Wing Soup, and…'

'I thought you said you guys don't eat Slimes.' Prefect eyed at him suspiciously. Lily topped my skip card with a blue skip card.

'Lily doesn't like it. She said it's disgusting,' Elwin said. I had no choice but to draw some cards. It took me four cards to find a blue card, and it was a reverse card. I placed it on the pile.

'It _is_ disgusting. You don't know what _that_ Slime had eaten.' She shivered upon recalling a poor memory. 'Once it tasted like… mud.' Prefect scratched his head at his turn and hovered over several cards on his hand. At the end he pulled out a blue five.

'The chef wasn't an expert cook. Not everyone would make a mud pudding for food,' her brother said with a sigh, then turned towards Prefect. 'I enjoy eating the puddings that was served to her. They were delicious.' Lily dropped a red five.

'How about you, Evan? What do you usually eat?' Prefect asked eagerly. I coughed upon hearing the question. I didn't eat much of the normal foods as Elwin and Lily does. Most of the time I would drown myself with healing potions as I fought Maple World's bosses; sometimes solo, sometimes in a party of a few.

'Well…' I looked away from him. Elwin pulled out a red zero. 'I'm… not quite the healthy person, you see, through your world's standards I mean.' I looked through my cards and placed a yellow zero.

'What do you mean?' he raised an eyebrow at me.

'Adventurers like him don't really eat real food. Well, at his level, anyway. He probably chugged Power Elixers, Elixers, Honsters and Mana Bulls as he goes, and probably several All-cure Potions during boss runs. Maybe some alchemy potions along the way, because who knows, the extra HP and MP might help him to survive.'

I laughed. 'Well… yeah.'

'How do they taste like? Why do you use them instead of normal food supply?' Prefect pursued further. I wished he would drop the question already.

Lily hissed. 'Hurry up already.' Prefect dropped a yellow nine on the pile.

I pursed my lips while Lily removed a yellow five from her hand. 'Bitter.'

'Bitter?' he raised an eyebrow.

'What do you expect? They're mixed with all sort of herbs into making them efficient,' Elwin muttered as he checked the cards on hand. 'Depending on your HP and MP bar, they could be very useful.' He placed a yellow plus two card on the pile.

'Normal food don't heal as much. I have 53,700 HP and 123,650 MP at max. Normal food would heal… perhaps five thousand at best? It isn't efficient if one have to take a few items repeatedly to gain back a good amount of HP or MP.' I found a green plus two on hand and placed it on the pile.

Prefect stared at me. 'So… are you a drug addict, Evan?'

Elwin burst into laughter. 'Drug addict… ha ha!'

I stopped to think for a moment. 'Well…' I can't deny nor accept that statement. Potions are, in fact, a drug, but I doubt I'm an addict even though I used them often. But I cannot live without the potions, as I would die, literally. Does that considered as an addiction? But I don't have the need to use them every few minutes as an addict would do when I am outside the battlefield. On it, depending on the situation, I needed to replenish my HP and MP bar and that's when the potions come in handy.

'Tsk, tsk,' Lily shook her head. 'You cannot compare reality to game standards, Prefect. Some low levels stuffed themselves with Hotdogs to heal their health. Most magicians ate Red Bean Sundae until their brain freezes to heal their MP gauge as Mana Elixer could no longer heal as much as before. How Maple World functions varies differently than your world, thus our culture regarding food is different from yours. Now, Prefect, it is your turn.'

'The game world is really different than reality huh…' Prefect murmured and took four cards from the stack of cards. Lily placed a green reverse card. Prefect was about to take some cards from the stack before he stopped, his hand hovering above the deck.

'What's wrong?' Elwin tilted his head to the right to observe his expression.

'Wait… we're playing a game in a game, right?' Prefect's eyes widened and looked at all of us. Elwin nodded. 'This is… game-ception! Gasp! I can't believe it took me this long to realize this!'

We blinked at him. Elwin leaned over. 'What on earth is he babbling about? Do you know what he's trying to say?' he whispered.

'Beats me.' I shrugged. 'I have yet to hear such words.'

'Even a game needed other activities apart from fighting. It would be a bore if you are limited to only one activity in an area,' Lily replied while he drew some cards. 'It's the same as your world. There are other activities apart from going to school to study every day, right?'

'I guess so…' he muttered and tossed a green three to the pile. 'Well, I get a little nervous with strangers, and I wouldn't know much of a topic to discuss with others too…'

'Was he?' I looked at Elwin, who had previously met him first among the three of us. Lily shot a glare at me and I looked down at my cards. I had a red three and casted it out of my hand to the pile.

'He's definitely lying. He was extremely excited and started blurting out about "fantasy worlds" and "magic", then ran out of the door as he explored Henesys. He almost got himself killed from Orange Mushrooms,' Elwin said, sighing. 'The Henesys townsfolk and few adventurers were astonished by his appearance and random words. I had to bring him back to the house so he wouldn't get any more attention.'

'I did get a little overexcited that time…' Prefect chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Elwin threw a red seven and glanced at Lily. 'You don't need to bring up the past.'

'You guys talked too much. It's almost eleven o'clock, and no one has won yet. Someone ought to prepare lunch, you know,' Lily grunted, pulling out a red five and placed it on the pile. Afterwards, it was some idle chats. Lily won the round as all of her cards were tossed into the pile, and the three of us resumed the round as she checked the refrigerator. She came out from the kitchen with a sigh and left the house to buy some materials. The game continued for a few more minutes. I placed my last green one on the pile. Elwin and Prefect looked at the card in horror as it dropped to the center of the table.

'It looks like I won,' I said to them. The front door unlocked. I shifted my gaze to that direction to find Lily coming back with a large, brown paper bag filled with ingredients. I smiled at the both of them who looked back with scowls. 'Well, good luck.' Then, I helped Lily in the kitchen as she told me what she had in mind for lunch – Orange Mushroom Noodles. It seemed that there were some Squishy Liquid, Slime Bubble, Cherry Bubble, Gelatin, chocolate syrup bottle and Snowman pieces in the bag. I looked at her, then to the items.

'What are you making?' I frowned at her.

She replied swiftly, 'Slime Pudding.'

'I thought you hate it.'

She paused briefly before saying, 'I dislike those that was made on the outside. They taste like mud.'

At the end, even after she had done so much to prepare Slime Pudding for dessert, she refused to eat it after the meal due to trauma. Elwin and Prefect helped themselves with the extra serving. I laughed when they started stuffing the jelly coated with chocolate syrup into their mouths with bare hands to get more servings of the pudding, resulting in their chocolate-smeared faces. Elwin came out victorious as he had gotten an extra handful of pudding faster than Prefect could get it from the bowl. The loser of the competition had to wash the dishes, and Prefect dragged his feet to the sink with an empty pudding bowl in hand.

'Speaking of which,' Elwin approached me while cleaning his mouth with his hand. 'Where's your pet dragon?'

I smiled. 'It isn't a pet dragon. Mir flew out early in the morning to search for Afrien for some reasons. I don't know why, either.'

'That's weird. It doesn't seem to be the type to run away from you after so long of service.'

'It isn't running away.'

'You probably terrorize the dragon too much. It's doing all the work before you started learning some skills on your own,' Elwin smirked.

'To be fair, it was taking my mana, and its health is a part of mine, too.'

'Tsk, tsk.' Elwin shook his head and entered the bathroom. I headed out of the house. Mir happened to be back as I did so and landed before Maria's clothing line.

'Oh, Master,' Mir stopped briefly to catch its breath. 'Afrien needed my help earlier. It took so long to evacuate all of the animals on the island. He said we could use his help if we needed to.'

I remembered that particular Hyper Skill that I never used. 'I see. Is he capable of moving about after being iced so long?'

Mir nodded gleefully. 'Afrien's strength didn't completely fade. We had a little test of ability that didn't require the use of MP, and I was completely defeated.'

'Where is he now?'

'He said he would be returning to Leafre to meet with the dragons inhabiting the area. It would be nice if Freud was around. He seemed lonely.'

'Well,' I smiled weakly. 'Humans cannot live that long.'

'Will you go away one day as well, Master?' Mir looked sad.

I turned to the sky. 'I wonder. With the Goddess's Blessing, we are able to escape death for many, many times. Perhaps it didn't exist then, but I don't know how long this would continue.'

'That is very depressing, Master.'

'Therefore, we should cherish everything we have now before they fade away. What matters is the present, not the past, nor the future.'

Mir blocked the view with its head. 'How about planning ahead?'

I chuckled. 'Well, that is fairly important, too.'

It frowned. 'You're contradicting yourself, Master.'

'Maybe. That's how things go.'

'DragonGod!' a familiar voice called. I looked to the direction of where it came from. A buddy and a former guild mate, TooSwift4Ya called out. As usual, he looked excessively rich from all the cash items worn. I narrowed my eyes at him as he moved towards me with a huge mechanical wing on his back and Garnet Raven Persona, a red version of Phantom's signature hat. As he stopped, the effect of the hat allowed him to levitate, surrounded with Phantom branded cards. The effect of Lightning God Ring, a floating steel helmet around a black spirit and two axes behind it, followed behind him along with his Aria Android who looked equally fancy as he does. Mir sniffed at the wings suspiciously which made him laugh.

'Long time no see. I'm surprised you're back,' I said while I had to lift my head to meet him eye to eye. 'It would be nice if you could be on the ground.'

'Ya mean, down-to-earth?' he laughed at his own pun, then took out a white earphone and replaced the red Phantom hat to it. He slowly landed to the ground as he stuffed his hat into the bag. 'My weak cousin pestered me to come back. Anyway, have ya heard about the new update?'

'What update?' I frowned. I was in Seoul for too long that I had not kept up with news in Maple World.

'The new map and storyline in Maple World,' he replied and pulled out his map. After a few taps, he showed me his world map. I noticed a new area in Edelstein. 'Mechanical Grave,' he spoke the name of the area. 'Apparently it's a new place with monsters over level 200.'

'Wow.' He grinned at my response and tapped on the area to show an in-depth map of the place. There were many maps, as usual for a new area, and it featured a black ship named "Black Heaven". The Black Wings logo was on it. I believed it would be the war between Black Wings and Maple Alliance. My eyes widened at the figure of a familiar person on the far right.

TooSwift4Ya noticed my expression and snickered. 'I know what ya thinking about. Ya aren't seeing things. Lotus _is_ the final boss of the area, as well as the new storyline. They called it "Black Heaven". The name of the ship is coincidentally the same.'

I looked at him. 'Is someone going to kill Lotus at the end of the storyline?' If both worlds are parallel, then Seoul's Lotus, too, will…

He shrugged. 'Beats me, but ya know, it might be. Lotus's in coma, and that piece of shit Gelimer's controlling him. Probably Gelimer's last resort would use him, and Lotus's pretty strong, as he's one of Black Mage's commanders. Oh, and Lotus drops level 160 set equipment.' The dual blade grinned at me as he kept his world map into his bag. 'Ya free? Let's go try and beat him. I'll find a few more, just in case he's crazy strong.'

'Maybe I'll pass. I have something else to do,' I looked at him apologetically. 'You can call me for other bosses if you want to.'

'Oh?' he tilted his head aside. 'You're usually enthusiastic of a new boss. Are you that busy?' I nodded. I couldn't tell him that I was exploring a new world called "Seoul". TooSwift4Ya nodded in acknowledgement. 'Well, since I'm around now, I'll call ya for some Chaos boss once a while. Ya really need to wear the Fafnir set, DragonGod. Dragon Tail is long shunned.' He gently punched my arm.

I grinned. 'I couldn't find a decent hat and top, and I'd like to keep my Elemental Staff 6.'

'Pfft, excuses. Ya just lazy to run around Free Market, right?' he shook his head, sighing. 'Well, I'll tell ya what's going on when I finished this "Black Heaven" storyline, and I'll bring ya to run R.A Chaos bosses for ya Dunwitch equips and Fafnir Staff. It's worth it.'

'It's _slow_ , you know.'

'Ya also need to get the Tyrant set. Its way better than those cheap bosses' drops ya wearing,' he said as he examined my equipment.

'I'm not as rich as you, D.B.' I sighed at him. I know he wore his god-like equipment under those fancy cash items.

'I'll find them on the market and inform ya about it. Ya pretty rich too. Don't be too modest, _Evan_.' He spoke the class name sarcastically. 'Let's go bossing together some time, yeah?'


	15. Chapter 12 (FS Chapter 3)

My friend, TooSwift4Ya dragged me to ram all chaos bosses available ever since he came back to this never-ending conquest, and as a result, I overslept on Monday morning. I found myself in a soggy bed, some parts on it were burnt. I don't think I would wet myself – not in such a big patch anyway, and I didn't think I drank _that_ much water before collapsing on the bed. Did Mir tried to burn me alive? The said dragon came into the bedroom as I thought of it and started to suck in air. 'Mir? What are you doing?' Cautiously I grabbed on my umbrella-staff leaning near the bed, ready to avoid the attack. Mir stopped what it was doing and breathed out a sigh of relief. A small spark came out along with it and made a black spot on the bed sheet.

'Master, you're _very_ late to school!' Mir was angry as it flapped its huge wings. 'It's already ten! At this time, you should be having a recess in school!'

'I'm surprised you're so energetic after all the chaos boss runs two days in a row,' I yawned, tilting my head left and right as it felt sore, resulting in cracking sounds. Mir looked displeased. 'We haven't done extensive bossing for several months, you know.'

'Master, I'm in a deeper shock state than you are. You managed to sleep through three buckets of ice cold water and Flame Breathe,' Mir replied.

'That's how good Dragon Tail Mage Robe is,' I dropped my staff on the bed and stretched myself. 'It doesn't matter if I skip school once a while, as long as I fulfill the minimum attendance.'

'Well… if you say so, Master,' Mir murmured, sitting by the bed. 'What are we to do now? You're not going to go to school _now_ , right?'

'I plan to check out Mechanical Graveyard to see what it has to offer. I'm a bit curious of how the monsters would be.'

Mir nodded. 'And do all of the quests there!'

I laughed. 'I can't do all of it in one day. I can miss school tomorrow and there's still a few more left to finish.' Mir pouted. 'We can always do them slowly. After all, what's the rush?'

'You're right! You're the best, Master!' Mir beamed, showing its fangs inside its large mouth. I left the soggy bed and clean myself up, including changing my clothes. I left my robe to dry on the clothing line in front of the house before heading to Pantheon. Arriving at Edelstein, I continued to see the residence of the place living in fear. Although Chucky the mascot tried his best to cheer the children up with balloons and tricks, there's almost no cure to help the adults who knew the harshness of reality. Bavan, one of the Black Wings member, was surrounded by food and eating them like no tomorrow. They were probably an offering by the Edelstein folks under his demand. His belly seemed to have multiplied in size since the last time I saw him.

Belle the policewoman was making her rounds in town, making sure there weren't any dispute in town for the lack of food supply. She walked past Bavan with a timid smile when in contact with his gaze, but I could see her clenched fists behind her. She noticed me, and her expression was quickly replaced with a genuine smile. 'Hello, DragonGod,' she greeted, then she took a quick look around. She then whispered, 'Are you here to join the battle against Black Wings?'

I shook my head. 'Oh no… I'm sorry, but I'm a little busy at the moment with other things,' I replied. 'I heard that there's a new map around, so I'm paying it a little visit.'

Bavan seemed to overhear our conversation as he seemed to turn towards us. He didn't seemed to be happy to know an adventurer with a dragon on his back knew the ship. I supposed even an underling like him would know the presence Black Heaven. 'I see,' the Wild Hunter instructor nodded. 'I, too, have noticed a new path had opened near the mines, though I haven't visited it myself, ha ha. Be careful out there.'

Mir replied, 'You too, Belle. They said that the number of _roaches_ had been increasing in towns.'

I smiled. 'Feel free to call us if _they_ are too much to handle.'

She was surprised for a moment, then gave us a confident smile. 'Thank you for your offer, DragonGod, Mir. The Edelstein Police is sure to call you when it occurs.' I waved goodbye to her and continued my journey to Edelstein Strolling Path 4 using the portal to the right of the map. I had my map on hand just in case I was wrong. The Patrol Robots in Edelstein Strolling Path right after I exited the town seemed to be eyeing at my actions. I assumed Bavan had reported me to the main base just in case I was there to destroy Black Heaven. I walked through the "eyes" casually, unfortunately for them, they only stayed in one map. Mir was tense as I teleported towards the portal to speed up my journey, with Teleport Mastery killing most of them at the lowest platform.

'They seemed to be very cautious of Black Heaven,' Mir commented when we entered Edelstein Strolling Path 2.

'Of course. Their trump card, Lotus, is inside there,' I said. 'That's the only way Black Wings is trying to win with against Maple Alliance.'

'But there are many of us. Master, surely you would know that they wouldn't win. They discarded Orchid, too. They lack of power.'

'We can't say for sure. They may have many under them. Several adventurers joined them, do you remember? They felt like the Black Mage would be a good ruler despite what the history shows, or they simply do not care about peace because it would take away their purpose.'

We passed through the portal into Edelstein Strolling Path 3. 'But why, Master? Isn't world peace the ultimate goal of all this? Do they really think that waging war is better than that?' Mir asked. 'I don't understand, Master.'

I swung my staff on one Water Thief Monster coming my way before turning towards Mir. 'It's the same as Prefect's situation. He felt like fantasy worlds is better than his peace-filled world. Why?'

Mir didn't reply. We teleported to the portal into Edelstein Strolling Path 4. Dust Boxes roamed the area, a young female Battle Mage named MeleeMage13 seemed to be killing them for Black Plastic Bags. She glanced at me, then towards the opposite direction. There, I saw the Demon twins coming out from the portal of the cable cars leading to Dry Road: Road to the Mine 1. They seemed to be angry of something. 'Hey,' I called out to them. Demon Avenger and Demon Slayer looked surprised at my presence. 'What's with the long face?'

Demon Slayer sighed. 'We lost track of Lotus.'

'He seemed to be transported away before we could get into Gelimer's Lab. Right now, he's the priority of our search,' Demon Avenger said. 'We know there's another cable car leading somewhere, but we don't seem to be able to access it as of right now.'

I was tempted to tell them that Lotus lies inside that portal, but it seems it would be a futile information. 'I see.'

'Have you heard?' Demon Slayer asked. 'Black Wings took one of Cygnus Knight's men.'

I shook my head. 'No. Why?'

'No idea, but the Resistance and Cygnus Knights were working together to solve the problem,' Demon Avenger said. 'Well, we could help out, but we're more focused on finding Lotus. I have a bad feeling about him.'

Demon Slayer snorted. 'You mean, of him being _controlled_ by Gelimer.'

'Oh?' I raised an eyebrow. 'How's Orchid doing?'

'Silent, as usual. We did try to pry information off her with some torturing. Sometimes, if we're lucky, she would glare at us to show some emotions on her pale face,' Demon Slayer said, crossing his arms. 'Regardless how much she pleaded to Claudine, she won't be a part of this mission.'

Demon Avenger nodded. 'Her sisterly love towards her twin brother is too much. She would ask us about him every time we returned from the mines. Xenon probably told her about it.' I smiled. The person who told her was none other than me.

'Nothing changed, huh?' I said. The twins nodded. 'Oh, I have a question for you, Demon Avenger.'

He frowned. 'What is it?'

'How did your hair managed to remain blown backwards when there isn't any wind in the area?' I pointed at his snow-white hair that remained stagnant in the air. 'Unlike Demon Slayer's, yours seemed to defy logic.'

Demon Avenger grinned. Demon Slayer shook his head at his expression. The white haired demon swept his hair back and said, 'Because I'm fabulous.' For some reasons it reminded me of a shampoo commercial in Seoul that I've seen a while ago.

The red haired demon approached me and pulled me away from him. 'Don't worry about the idiot. He seemed to lose a few cells from releasing his demon powers,' Demon Slayer said, loud enough for his brother to hear. 'Let's pretend that we're not related to him.' The young Battle Mage giggled softly.

'What did you say?' Demon Avenger roared. 'I'll kill you!'

And they started fighting. Demon Slayer grinned slyly as he ran towards his twin brother. Demon Avenger used Execution, his huge range skill at him. Demon Slayer flew past some of the skill effect while blocking some damage with his Aegis Shield. The young Battle Mage squealed in fear as she ran to cover. He was already behind the white haired man when the effect was over and used Demon Impact. Demon Avenger jumped up shortly after, receiving two hits, and used Shield Chasing. The red haired demon seemed to know his tactics and had flew up to the platform above as the blue shields chased after him, then knocking them down with Demon Cry. Both Mir and I covered our ears to prevent receiving damage from his absurdly loud scream. All the Dust Boxes in the map were slayed as the MeleeMage13 dodged from their skill effects. One of the shields mistakenly took her as an enemy as she ran towards me, and Mir struck it down with Illusion.

'Change channel, Battle Mage,' I said with an apologetic smile. 'You might get yourself killed here, and you won't be able to finish your quest.'

She nodded with a sniff and disappeared. Demon Avenger jumped up to the same platform as his twin. 'Is that all you got?' Demon Slayer mocked his brother. 'I thought you _wanted_ to kill me.' The white haired demon received his taunt and let out a battle cry, getting in stance as he used Armor Break. Demon Slayer underestimated the range of the skill and had a broken shield status effect floating on his head. He glanced at it and grinned. 'That's more like it.' Demon Avenger used Execution again, and Demon Slayer parried most of the hits with Demon Thrash. They flew around the map while casting skills as Mir stared at them.

'Master, we should leave when we can,' Mir said. 'This looks dangerous.'

I merely sighed at how a talk of Demon Avenger's hair had led to such tragedy. They often fought against each other for some petty reasons, and Mastema had a hard time dealing with the both of them together, so I heard (despite the fact that she had fallen in love with the both of them, and they rejected her completely because they feared that each other had feelings for her). Demon Avenger casted Shield Chasing, and one the four shields that spawned off him flew towards me. I used Thunderbolt to strike it down to the ground. Everything seems fine and avoidable until the both of them landed at the middle platform, tired and gasping for air, then used Hyper Skills – Demon Slayer using Blue Bloods while Demon Avenger activated Forbidden Contract. 'Uh oh,' Mir said, then pulled the collar of my robe, trying to bring me away from the scene. The place darkened as shadow enveloped Demon Avenger, turning him into a big, blue glowing demon. Demon Slayer had a smirk on his face, a purple demon-like face appeared, with Demon Avenger on its mouth. Mir managed to toss me into the portal before anything serious happened.

'Darn it,' I said to the Onyx Dragon. 'I wanted to see that.'

'You'll get yourself killed!' it cried. I knew it was right and sighed.

We returned to the map to find two weakened Demons that could be easily killed by Dust Boxes bumping into them. They remained standing, panting while their weapons are pointing at each other. They seemed to want to go another round. 'Alright, both of you, stop this,' I said when I climbed up to the platform. Some parts of the map were destroyed by them and I sighed again. 'Man, just one thing I say and this all happened. I should learn to keep my mouth shut.'

Demon Slayer snickered. 'Yes you should, right _now_.'

'Back off. It's _our_ fight,' Demon Avenger snarled. 'I don't care if you're a part of the "Maple Heroes", but this is none of your business, DragonGod.'

'It is sort of my business. My words sparked all of this destruction. So, I'm putting everything back to place.' I glanced at the both of them. They started laughing at me.

'Like how?' The white haired demon taunted.

'By sending you back to where you two belong,' I smiled.

'Nearest Town scroll?' The red haired demon smirked. 'We have that.'

'Oh no. I'm sending you back with 50 HP.'

Both of them paused for a while, with the smile still on their faces, but they quickly faded when they realized what I was saying.

Mir, Earthquake. The dragon's shadow loomed over us as it flew up to the sky, its wings opened wide while I casted Soul Stone on them. The horrified Demon Avenger and Demon Slayer attempted to move to separate directions, but they were too weak to move far. Mir crashed to the ground. Three Dust Boxes and two Demons were slayed. Two tombs fell to the ground for a second, then the twins were resurrected by Soul Stone.

'You piece of shit!' Demon Avenger roared and attempted to stab me with Desperado, his weapon.

I dodged it. 'Hey, you're still alive and kicking, right?' I laughed. 'I'm not that cruel to kill you both while you two having the glory fights.'

Demon Slayer frowned at me. 'What's the purpose of your actions?'

'I'm asking you two to do a favor for me.'

Demon Avenger halted his second swing and frowned at me as well. 'What favor?'

'The real Evan would be there to help you find Lotus, right?'

He tilted his head to the right. 'I suppose. Maple Alliance is involved with this matter.'

'When you see him, will you tell him to return to where he came from? I need to get across this message to him somehow, and you two know that I couldn't see him directly,' I said. 'Can you two do that?'

The Demon twins exchanged glances, then Demon Slayer turned towards me with a grin. 'You could've asked us normally.'

'This is considered "normally", since you two would fight each other like no tomorrow,' I shook my head. Mir nodded in agreement. 'I don't get why you two like to fight each other so much.'

'Because we're different,' they both replied in sync. They reminded me of Mihile and Eckhart in Seoul. The twins glared at each other.

'Now, now…' I glanced at them, fearing they would start fighting again, and I would be caught with it. 'Don't you need to go back to Edelstein first?'

'Oh, right,' Demon Slayer nodded. 'Well, see you later. We need to report to Claudine about Verne Mine's situation.' Then he ditched his twin brother as he flew towards the portal alone. Demon Avenger growled and flew after him. Mir let out a weak chuckle.

'At least they aren't fighting again,' Mir sighed in relief. 'Let's go.' We entered the new portal to a cable car leading to a separate map.

We were welcomed by monsters similar to Broken DF Androids that were deep inside Verne Mines, but they looked older, have a shade of red instead of green, and only have one circular eye. They roamed on the platform beneath the portal, and those who noticed my presence looked panicked. Fortunately, they aren't aggressive monsters, just as most monsters in Maple World. I got down to the bottom platform and used Thunderbolt on the nearest one. A quarter of its HP went down and it walked towards me in anger. The name of the monster is Remodeled Coward Android, level 200. Looks like Swift wasn't lying. The android missed me when I walked past it. Mir used Flame Wheel to dispose of it, but it also attracted other androids on the platform. We swiftly finished them off and entered the next portal.

The map stated the area's name is Haven. Broken parts of what seemed liked used cogwheels, pipes and metal scraps were scattered around the area, and androids that looked similar to the androids seen in Verne Mines, casually walking by each other, some buying from other androids. They didn't seemed to be hostile like the androids a portal away from the area. Abandoned buildings and cranes can be seen in a distance, some crumbled to the ground, and some remained standing, but rusty. Judging by Cassandra's presence in the area, this place suggests that it is a town. Worn, dirty patched cloth were used to build tents, supported by rusty metal pipes, with circular hooks to link two different cloth together. The area reeked of grease and steel. The androids had built a watchtower with pieces of scraped metals, sealed loosely with screws. The place truly lived up to its name: Mechanical Grave.

A blue android with its right eye popped out due to the spring not sealed tightly on its place called One Eye seemed to have a quest for me, but I cannot access to it yet. Several androids on the lower platform had items to trade. A pink android with droopy eyes, a grin and four arms named Three Hands (That surely doesn't sound logical as it has four arms) sells items for silver coins called Absolabs coin. I looked at its wares. They were the level 160 equipment that Swift had told me beforehand. Perhaps the coins were items dropped from Lotus, the boss at the end of the journey. I checked the map to see the description of this town. "A shelter for robots awakened to feelings. Robots running away from Hunting Dog Robots live together here. Take the cable car to go to Edelstein."

'It doesn't seem like we could do anything here for now,' I said to Mir. 'Let's go back for now.'

'I think we jumped the tracks, Master. This place seemed to be the aftermath of what might have happen in the Black Heaven storyline,' Mir nodded in agreement. 'Let's go.'

Swift called me through buddy chat. "Hey, ya free? Let's go bossing!"

I replied, "I'm free. Where should we go first?"

"El Nath. We're killing Chaos Zakum first."

I travelled back to Edelstein and took Ace's hot air balloon ship to Orbis. Ace seemed to be very happy to see me again, telling me that he was glad someone still remembers him apart from the citizens of the town as everyone seemed to be "fast travelling through some sort of weird portals". 'My business has been going down since it happened, you know? Earning only Edelstein citizen's mesos isn't enough,' he said. 'With the darned Black Wings around, everyone else is poor, and I can't charge too much of a fee.'

'Nothing had changed?' I asked.

'Not much anyway. It had gotten a little better since the Resistance were up and going, but these days it had been tight. Probably because of the new map around Edelstein Strolling Path 4. You know about it?'

'I briefly visited it earlier. The monsters there are very high levelled.'

Ace laughed. 'Hah! That might be it.'

I met with TooSwift4Ya at Chief's Residence. He invited me into party straight away. 'Let's wreck all the boss!' he raised his dagger and katara to the air in front of the 3rd job Adventurer Job Instructors, then we asked our respective job chief to be teleported to Zakum. We spent the whole day in killing everything, with Root Abyss bosses left for last. I found a decent staff from Bellum after he died. 'Good!' Swift said. 'Ya better equip that right now.'

'No way. My staff is better,' I said, looking at the red four digits of the staff in my inventory, indicating that it was weaker than the enhanced, pink glowing Elemental Staff 6 I have. 'I'm going back. Bossing all day is tiring. I overslept today, _thanks_ to you.'

He laughed. 'Me too. We're just a bunch of old folks that haven't gone Chaos bossing for a while. Ya free tomorrow?'

I intended to return school. 'Don't think so. Call me during the weekends.' He nodded as we left Bellum's cave, and we went on our separate ways. I noticed it was eight o'clock by the time I returned to Elwin's house.

'Gotten anything good?' Elwin looked at me when I returned. 'You've been killing boss clones for three days in a row now.'

'I found a decent staff,' I replied. 'It's not too good, but it's not too shabby. Hunting equipment isn't that easy.'

After dinner, I threw myself on the bed in Prefect's house. The wall clock across me stated that the time was half past eight, but I felt like sleeping. Then I remembered the promise I made with Orchid. Mir came into the room, looking at me.

'Shouldn't you call her, Master? You promised,' said the dragon.

I turned around. 'Not today. I'm exhausted.'

'You haven't called her since the first day. She will get angry, Master.'

I yawned. 'I'm not too bothered of what she thinks of me. It is better if the feelings she harbored for me would disappear into nothingness because of this.' My phone rang right after. I pulled it out of my bag, wondering who would call me at this time of the day. The image of a white haired, twin tail girl appeared on screen. 'Speak of the devil,' I said to the gleeful Mir, and answered the call. 'Hello?'

'I told you to call me _every day_!' she yelled. 'You only called me for one day, and I got worried, so…' What was said after wasn't clear as her voice gradually became softer. 'Anyway, why didn't you come to school today? You could've escorted me to school!'

I faked a cough. 'I was sick. I'll accompany you to school tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow?' she scoffed, then mumbled something under her breath.

'If you're busy tomorrow, we can make it on another day,' I said, hoping to end the call soon. I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

'No!' Orchid said loudly. 'I mean… no, I'm not busy tomorrow. Come to the bus stop at eight o'clock sharp. If you're late for even a second, I'll report you to the police for stalking! Hang up, stalker!'

I hung up and sighed. 'You made another promise, Master,' Mir said. 'We need to wake up early tomorrow.'

'Well, the school starts about twelve hours from now on. It should be enough rest by then,' I murmured and closed my eyes. 'Good night, Mir.' I doze off straight away. Elwin complained about my early sleep the next day. 'We wanted to invite you for a game of Uno, but you're already sleeping. Prefect is cheating! We need you to defeat him!' he said while I applied the invisibility potion onto Mir.

'Maybe next time,' I said and picked up the umbrella that was leaning against the wall near the wardrobe to the other world. 'I'll be leaving now.'

'You're quite early. Meeting someone?' he asked, looking at his watch.

'Just in case the person came early.'

I left Prefect's house at a quarter to eight. As I expected, I saw Orchid standing there when I cross the bridge, yawning as she looked around for someone. _Master, how did you know that she would arrive early?_ Mir asked.

Just a guess. I approached the bus stop. 'Orchid,' I greeted her. She jumped upon hearing my voice and feigned undisturbed afterwards.

'You're late!' she said, getting up from the seat.

I pointed at the clock hanging at the side of the bus stop. 'Both of us are earlier than the promised time. Now, shall we go?' I asked with a smile. She scowled at my logic, but followed after me into Shinsoo International School. As we walked side by side, she had attracted the attention of the other students walking to school, especially the male students. Some of them looked at me in envy while some shot me a glare and seemed to cuss me with their thoughts. The girls, on the other hand, seemed to be discussing something among themselves. Although I did promise to accompany her to school, I couldn't help but feeling uncomfortable by their stares. Is this what she felt every day? I glanced at Orchid.

I realized the reason of everyone's attention was of Orchid's satisfied smile on her face. A fan of hers stood on the side and snapped a photo of her. Her expression immediately changed to a scowl as the flash on his phone went off. The attention has now shifted to the male student, who was being glared at by changing her expression. 'Must be tiring from all the attention,' I muttered as we entered the building. 'I don't feel comfortable at all.'

Orchid smirked. 'It can't be helped, for I'm a famous idol in town. You should be glad that someone like you have gotten the chance to walk side by side with me, stalker.'

'But you asked for it. I'm heading to class first. You don't need me to bring you to class too, right?' I faced her.

'Don't get ahead of yourself, stalker!' she looked away. 'I only allow you to walk me to school, not further! Good bye.' Then she proceeded to the flight of stairs to the left without batting an eye at me. I sighed in relief and entered class ahead of me. Francis was on his seat with a grin on his face, his hands holding the Orchid doll on the table, mumbling something and chuckling. I couldn't help but sigh. If it was he who listened to Orchid and the person she had fallen for, he wouldn't have such a sorry state.

Biology. Arkarium was teaching about the respiratory systems of a bug, human and fish as well as the difference of all of them. He tried to draw a grasshopper on board, but I think everyone thought it was a ruler with legs. Regardless, he delivered his lessons well despite his terrible drawings. He called Francis out to answer a question. The hooded boy freaked out when he did so and stuttered when he didn't hear what Arkarium was asking him, so the teacher repeated the question. Everyone's eyes on him made him nervous, and he wasn't paying attention on the class at all, so he looked around, hoping the class would tell him the answer. Bully told him the answer to what being the frog's respiratory system as the gills, and he repeated it to the teacher.

Arkarium was red from anger and told him to stand outside of the classroom. Francis, too, was red on his face, but due to embarrassment while he walked out of the classroom with Orchid doll in hand. Bully snickered at him as he walked past him, then he caught me staring at him. I sighed and shook my head, then turned back to the front. Arkarium called out Bully to answer it next. He replied confidently, 'It's lungs.'

'Only lungs?' Arkarium narrowed his eyes at him.

'Yes,' Bully replied and sat down on his chair. Arkarium told him to stand outside the classroom. Several students giggled silently as Bully looked at the teacher in shock. 'It wasn't the right answer? What is it then?' Arkarium didn't reply him at all.

Lunch break arrived. I left the classroom feeling hungry. As I didn't run through Chaos bosses as I had done two days before, I feel somewhat energetic, even after the Biology and English. Outside my classroom, my classmates who had identified as a couple, stood near the window, holding each other's hands while standing opposite of each other. While lifting their hands up to chest height, the girl told the boy in a cutesy tone, 'Darling, I crave chocolate today.'

Francis stood beside me. 'Disgusting,' he murmured at them while gripping tightly on Orchid doll. I think he was jealous. I saw Magnus peeping out from the teacher's office. What is he doing?

'My cutie pie craves chocolate, huh? How about we get some chocolate after school?' the boy suggested in a gentle tone. Hawkeye and Mihile were coming down the stairs and saw us. I waved at them as they walked over.

'What's up?' Hawkeye asked us, his hands in his pants pockets.

'Yes, yes! Chocolate!' the girl said gleefully. Perhaps Magnus's glare had reached her spine, she suddenly shivered and looked around. 'By the way, darling, isn't it a bit chilly?' she asked the boy in front of her.

'Couple, huh?' Mihile smirked at Hawkeye. 'Someone's feeling jealous.'

'Am not!' Chief Cygnus Knight of Lightning stuck his tongue out at him.

The boy looked concerned. 'My cutie pie is chilly, huh? I don't want you to catch a cold,' he said, then opened his arms. 'Come here. I'll hug you.'

'Good lord,' I said, looking away. 'Why are they doing this in broad daylight?' I looked at Hawkeye and Mihile. While they shrugged, I saw Hilla standing behind us, staring daggers at the couple ahead. I guess she's still single if she's jealous of a young couple flirting in front of the classroom…

'No, no… I mean, I feel a shiver down my spine…' the girl muttered, looking around once more. Hilla and Magnus left their spots at the same time and stood behind the couple. The sound of sport shoes and high heels echoed throughout the hallway. The couple, who was able to see their partner's back, saw the angry teachers walking towards them and gasped in terror.

'Hah, this again it seems. They're done for,' Hawkeye said. So it had happened before? The students nearby crowded around them.

'What are you doing in the school grounds?' Hilla scowled at the couple with her arms crossed. Nineheart came out of Cygnus's office, wondering about the commotion outside the room.

Magnus was holding up his infamous stick he used to hit the students who couldn't do the running lap. 'You come to school to study, not to court each other!' he scolded them.

'No!' Hilla said.

'Courting in the school grounds!' Magnus followed up after her.

'No way!' Hilla added.

Then, in sync, they said, 'Follow me!' Magnus called the male student into the teacher's office while Hilla pulled the female student to the schoolyard, perhaps for a further lecture of their actions. The students let them through, and talked among each other of the incident. They wondered why those two teachers were so against couples in the school ground. Nineheart dissipated the students blocking the path on the hallway and approached us.

'Did you see that?' Hawkeye looked at all of us, shuddering. 'I was quaking in my _pants_.'

'You mean, _boots_ ,' Mihile corrected him as he lowered down his wooden training sword. I still wonder why he would bring it along with him everywhere he goes. Then it hit me. Others would wonder why I would bring a red umbrella everywhere I go, too. I decided that he was like me, who loved their weapons so much that they fear someone would take it away.

'Same difference,' Hawkeye brushed it away and turned to me. 'Anyway, Evan, you'd better be careful, too. If those two teachers catch you with your girlfriend, it will be the end of you two.' Then he stopped for a moment and stared at me, then let out a scornful laugh. 'Ah, never mind,' he gestured to inform me to forget about it. 'I don't think you have to worry about it.'

'If you're trying to insult me, it didn't work,' I smiled at him.

'Ha ha, you're just being sensitive,' Hawkeye laughed, then quickly changed topics. 'By the way, can you believe that romance is not allowed in the school ground, at this day and age?' I don't think that romance is important in school, but I could understand the teachers for restricting such feelings to students. They may hinder in the way of studying, which proves to be steps for a student to go for a higher level of education called "university". Francis nodded in acknowledgment of his words while Mihile shook his head. Nineheart merely stood there, listening to our conversation.

Hawkeye continued, 'Love is a beautiful, noble emotion.' That is, in fact, true, though not in the way he meant. 'Such positive feelings should be encouraged in growing teenagers like us.' Then he stopped to think again. A moment later, he sighed, placing his right hand on his nape. 'Aww, this means that I can't meet anyone at least for a while.'

Mihile chuckled. 'You _don't_ have a girlfriend anyway.'

' _Naver_ friends, it's not nice to say such things,' Hawkeye sulked at him.

'You mean, _never_ ,' Mihile corrected him again. Nineheart sighed heavily at Hawkeye's grammar mistakes.

The orange haired Striker instructors was frustrated at their reactions. 'Anyway, I don't like this. If we let this continue, I'm going to graduate before I can find a girlfriend!' So that was his primary concern? I frowned at him, bracing for an idiotic suggestion coming out from his mouth. 'My friends, how'd you like to start a revolution in Shinsoo International School? There are too many ears trained on us. Let's go somewhere private. Follow me to the rooftop!' Then, he marched towards the staircase.

'Yeah!' Francis cheered on and followed after him. The three of us exchanged confused glances. 'Hurry!' Francis called us. Mihile shrugged and headed towards the stairs. I gestured to Nineheart to follow along. Although reluctant, he started walking. Thus, the five of us, among them were three confused men, headed towards the rooftop with a non-mutual goal, and Hawkeye as the leader of all this. What would go wrong?

 _Everything_.


	16. Chapter 13 (FS Chapter 3)

The five of us were the only ones on the rooftop. I wondered how Eckhart is doing as of now, for I would like to exchange places with him. He sure is a smart man to avoid being pulled along with Hawkeye. The strategist student council president who was dragged into the mess, the Kendo club leader who played along, a confused otherworld adventurer, the doll maniac obsessed with an idol, and the Taekwondo club leader who wanted love to be practiced in school grounds, as well as the leader of... whatever he's plotting. The odd group stood in front of Hawkeye, who seemed to be thinking of words he would like to say to us.

What could go wrong with this group? Everything, I'd say, if Hawkeye is the leader. Not that I don't trust him, but Seoul's Hawkeye is a lonely man who craved for love (although all of the girls who went out with him would break up with him within a week at best, Mihile said to me one time), and the gypsy and traitor were against his needs.

Hawkeye cleared his throat. 'This is a group of men who want to conquer love!' said the man who pushed his ideals into everyone in the group as raised his fists to the air. I raised my hand up. 'Yes, Evan?'

'Count me out. See you,' I waved and turned around.

'No, no, no!' Hawkeye rushed over and pulled my arm. ' _You_ are an important asset to the group! No one is leaving!'

'I'm not interested on what you're doing, so, let go,' I replied.

 _Master, he needs your help! You should stay and help him!_ Mir said.

Sometimes, Mir, we need to say no, especially when you know something is bad. Remember Hiver? We might be dumb at that time, but we've grown to be smarter than this right now.

 _Master, you're lumping a Black Wings man with a Chief Cygnus Knight together…_

'Well, I need your help in this matter, so stay! You can't refuse a favor, right? Please, as a friend?' Hawkeye continued to pester me.

Mihile sighed. 'What have I gotten myself into again?' he muttered.

'Mihile, not you too!' Hawkeye turned to him, aghast. 'No one here is leaving, get it? At least, listen to me first, too!'

'Ugh, fine,' I got my arm away from Hawkeye's hands. 'I'll listen, okay?' A big smile formed on his face as I said so, cheering at his small victory. I sighed heavily as he ran back to where he was before.

'Orchid, wait for me,' Francis said with a grin. 'I'll get rid of everything that gets in my way of loving you.' Then he chuckled. Hawkeye threw his hands up in the air in joy, knowing that Francis understood his goals perfectly. Mihile glanced at me, confused. I shrugged. Looks like he haven't completely given up of the real Orchid instead of the doll.

Then there was Nineheart. 'And why am I here?' he asked us.

'Alright, no more complaining!' the orange haired teenager said. 'As of now, guys, you're now the members of Shinsoo International School Matchmakers. I expect all of you to fight for the right to love! Now, dismissed!'

Shinsoo International School Matchmakers? This would be the silliest name of a group I've ever heard. Actually, scratch that. I've seen much worse guild names apart from that, though shorter because of the word limit. 'What's the purpose of this infantile organization?' Nineheart asked him in a sophisticated tone.

Hawkeye grinned mischievously. 'The purpose of this organization is… drum roll, please!' Francis mimicked the sound of drum roll with his mouth as the rest of us looked at him in silence. 'To match the old bachelor, Mr. Magnus, and the spinster, Ms. Hilla!'

I think everyone was perplexed of his silly suggestion. The last time when Magnus and Hilla were together, Dimensional Invade was created. Hilla wanted to invade Pantheon by spawning groups of the undead into the area, and we adventurers were supposed to prevent them from overpopulating the place. Magnus would also spawn monsters in order to prevent Hilla from taking Pantheon away from his grasp too. The monsters they spawned aren't the worse – Hilla's Blackheart pet is. It has a crazy healing ability. Well, that's all in Maple World. Seoul's Hilla and Magnus seemed to argue all day long when they meet, as a few times I've seen. Fortunately they couldn't spawn monsters, or every day in here would be Hell.

'I, Hawkeye, came up with this plan: if the PE teacher and the school nurse fall in love with each other, then they won't be able to stop us from doing the same,' he chuckled. 'I can't believe I came up with such a brilliant plan!' Indeed, a "brilliant" plan. How are we supposed to make them fall in love? That particular emotion is not easy to manipulate.

'So you want to make them fall in love with each other,' Mihile let out a long sigh, his face grim. 'I think it's more plausible to make Orchid fall in love with Francis.' I agree. Orchid merely rejected Francis due to his face and height, but Magnus and Hilla were on each other's neck no matter what. I would rather run through their boss clones rather than trying to make them together. Besides, what benefits can one get if they do, anyway?

Francis chuckled evilly. 'Don't provoke the demon in me, or I'll send you to Hell,' he said. I would love to see how he would go against Mihile.

'So, why am I here…' Nineheart asked again, but no one answered him.

'Make the impossible possible! Just do it! That's the philosophy of Shinsoo School Matchmakers!' Hawkeye continued. 'Now, our first mission is to collect information. Let's find out what the PE teacher and the school nurse think of each other. Off you go, agents!'

'Off you go!' Francis echoed. But no one moved.

'What kind of situation _is_ this?' Mihile frowned at them.

'Can someone please tell me why I'm here...' Nineheart looked at all of us for answers. I had purposely avoided eye contact with him because he would never let me off the hook once our eyes met.

'First, we need someone to go to the teacher's room to ask Mr. Magnus. Anyone wanted to do this task?' Hawkeye looked at everyone. No reply. I wasn't interested in this matter in the first place. Francis who seemed supportive to the group was oddly silent. Then Hawkeye approached me.

'Evan, I hereby appoint you as an honorary member of Free Love Liberation Front,' he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. I see where this is going a mile away.

'I'm flattered, but I'm not interested,' I said, peeling his hands off of my shoulder. He lifted them back up again.

'Go to the teacher's room and find out about what Mr. Magnus thinks about Ms. Hilla. Can you do that, _please_?' he said, forcing a smile. 'You're the only one I can trust.' What a hassle. He's getting out of control about this… whatever group he just made up about fighting for romance in school. I sighed.

 _C'mon Master, let's help Hawkeye! Aren't you interested to see what would unfold at the end of this operation?_ Mir said in support of Hawkeye. The Onyx Dragon was very enthusiastic about the task. Looks like I don't have a choice. Since I have to do _all_ of the silly things sooner or later, I might as well try to enjoy the event itself.

'Fine,' I muttered. 'After lunch. I'm hungry.'

He grinned. 'That's the spirit, Evan! You're a real man! Let's all go to lunch, then we're all off to our first operation: Information Collection!'

'Guys…' Nineheart said as we marched off to the canteen.

After lunch, we went to our ways. Nineheart joined us for meals, which was surprising. Hawkeye gave orders to everyone in the meantime: Nineheart to investigate the matters between the gypsy and the traitor during school meetings, Francis to ask around the students of the two person's behavior, Mihile to ask Mr. Stan about the two together. 'And I will be planning on how to pair them up,' Hawkeye grinned. Basically we're mere pawns for him to use. I knocked on the teacher's office and opened the door, hoping that Magnus would be there. All four teachers were there on their respective seats. Mr. Stan raised an eyebrow at my presence in the staff room. Magnus seemed to be looking through a few sheets of papers on his desk. Elwin peered out of the side of his desk, frowning at my presence here.

 _This would be_ _interesting, don't you think so, Master?_ Mir asked through telepathy. Somehow the Onyx dragon was rather excited to see how Magnus and Hilla would be when they fell in love with each other. _Well, aren't you, Master?_ Mir asked as I step foot into the office.

Not at all. I know how it'd be - all Hell will break loose.

 _Maybe they'd be like those romance novels you've read before, Master. Too attached to each other and nothing will ever be in their way of love…_

I cringed upon recalling the stories. Do _not_ speak of that anymore.

The responsibility of entering the teacher's office was pushed to me as no one else seemed to be eager to do so, including Nineheart who was dragged to join into the odd mission. The student council president who once said that he was in charge of every student's wellbeing and will do his best to help anyone to solve their problems had betrayed my trust. 'Hey, you,' Magnus raised an eyebrow at me. 'What are you doing in the teacher's room? This is not a place for a student to enter and leave as they please.'

'Mr. Magnus, I have a question for you,' I said, approaching him. 'My question is…'

'A question?' he seemed happy to help me. 'What question?'

At this point, I was given three options of what to ask. One, asking whether he has a girlfriend or not. I wouldn't believe him if he had said yes, because if he does, he wouldn't be peeping out of the teacher's office over flirting of a young couple in front of the classroom with envy. Second, asking how he'd like to go out with Ms. Hilla. That question would be too direct and I doubt I would get any answer about what he thinks of the gypsy. Third, asking why he thinks of Ms. Hilla still single. I think it'd be weird if I were to ask such a question to him, rather than the gypsy herself. First option would be a terrible question to ask, for it wouldn't achieve obtaining information about Ms. Hilla. Second option would make him raged over such an absurd question, for I believe the gypsy and traitor's relationship is like fire and water, or worse. And thus, I was left with one option through process of elimination.

Well, here goes nothing. 'Why do you think Ms. Hilla is still single?'

The dark skinned teacher scoffed at my question. 'Of course, it's because she's a shrew…' he trailed off. 'Oops, what am I talking to a student?' he muttered, then scowled at me. 'You knucklehead, stop asking stupid questions and leave!' He threatened me by raising up his infamous stick, and I obeyed his words to leave.

Hawkeye called me as soon as I left the teacher's office. 'Other agents are working undercover to gather information from the people around our targets. Agent Evan, how did your mission go?'

'Agent…' I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the silliness of all this had become. 'Are we prepared to go for a war? Anyway, I know what Mr. Magnus thinks of Ms. Hilla now.'

'Good, then your next target is Ms. Hilla. Approach carefully and gather as much information as possible.' Then he hung up. Hilla, huh? She'd be a tough one to ask. Perhaps if I mentioned _his_ name, she would create a reaction and give me the information I need. I stuffed my smartphone into my pockets and headed towards my next destination, thinking of what to say to her.

Sliding the door open, Hilla, who had been powdering her face, lifted her head up from her compact to meet my gaze. I saw a glimpse of a white fur cat scurrying under the bench. Probably Lily. 'Where did you get hurt?' she asked, shifting back to the compact while she used the soft brush to cake her face further. 'If you came here thinking you could skip classes, then you'd better leave now. Answer me in three seconds, or I'll think you're trying to lie.'

Three seconds? Damn, I need to think fast. 'One…' Something related to Magnus… PE. That's it! 'Two…'

'I fell and sprained my ankle during PE class earlier,' I replied, wincing as I pointed at my right ankle. 'Can I have medicine for this?'

'Yet another student was hurt during PE class,' she scowled while putting down her compact make-up kit on her table and started complaining about Magnus. 'The barbaric PE teacher be better stop being so hard on his students and dumping them on me! Why can't he teach gentle exercises like yoga and Pilates? Gosh, I don't like him at all. Oh, my face…' she lifted up her compact and started powdering her face again. I couldn't help but wonder how long she needs to do that. 'Anyway, there's an iodine in the drawer over there,' she gestured at the medicine drawer to her left. 'Put it on where it hurts.'

I limped over to the drawer to find dozens of iodine in it. Nothing else was in there. I may not be an expert in Seoul's medicine, but surely iodine is not the same as an All-cure Potion in Maple World, right? 'Ms. Hilla, may I have some bandages?' I asked, pretending that it hurt a lot.

'Huh, bandages?' she looked up from her compact, frowning at me. 'You don't need to bandage sprained ankles – they heal themselves quickly!' I'm sure at one point I was told that bandages would help sprained ankles. 'Stop pretending that it hurts. If you're done putting on iodine, then leave.' She ignored me afterwards. I have obtained the information I needed from her, so I closed the drawer and left.

Hawkeye called me right after I left the infirmary. I wonder if he knew I had finished collecting information. Did he use Nineheart's information ability to find out where I was? 'I expect you have accomplished your mission flawlessly this time again. Did anyone follow you?' he asked.

'Well, apart from you who knew right when I had finished my task, no…'

'Good, excellent!' he said happily. 'That's why you're an elite Shinsoo School Matchmaker.'

'I wasn't inform of that matter. When did I get promoted from an honorary member?' I said, jokingly.

'Open places like this aren't ideal to share information, lest our identity might be exposed. Agent Evan, I command you to return to headquarters immediately. Dismissed!'

'Where's the "headquarters" you speak off, before you go?'

'What? You don't know where headquarters is? It's on the rooftop. _The_ rooftop!'

I arrived to the rooftop to find emptiness. That's right, it was empty. No one else was there. Then, I heard a female student's soft giggling and looked around the area.

 _Master, it's the small, hidden area beside the entrance! There seems to be a couple… Haven't we seen them before?_

I turned around the corner to the small area I never paid much attention to beside the doors. The couple was the one who were pulled away by both Hilla and Magnus respectively. I see that they were trying to avoid their radars by finding these hidden places around school so their romance wouldn't die away. 'Baby, can I have a flower? Pulease?' she said, acting cutesy. Haven't I read this kind of scenario somewhere? I felt the hairs on my back stood up.

'No, you can't,' the boy said, holding both of her hands. 'You have something better than the flower.'

'Pfft, that's too cliché,' the girl looked away from him. 'You're going to say that it's my face.'

'No,' the boy chuckled. 'It's my burning heart for you!'

 _Master, I'm surprised you haven't cringed at such a scene yet. I am cringing all over by one glimpse._

I'm thinking on how to interrupt them so they'd go away before the others show up. It's supposed to be a secret mission, right? We should try to avoid any information leakage. The girl shrieked at his response. 'Really? Really, really?' And she proceeded to hug him. I pulled out my smartphone and turned on flash for camera, then took a picture of them together. The flash alerted them. 'Darling, what's that?' the girl asked, surprised while I proceeded to delete the picture.

'A camera flash. Is that someone reporting us to the teachers?' the boy said. 'We should hurry before the student gets to the teacher!'

I stuck close to the walls as they ran out from the area. The boy noticed me while he pulled her to the door. I grinned at him. The girl noticed me when he suddenly stopped and both of them squealed in surprise. 'Too late,' I said with a smile. 'I've already sent it to Mr. Magnus.'

Hawkeye and the rest of the Shinsoo School Matchmakers members came to the rooftop. The couple grew restless at the sudden increase of students on the rooftop and quickly left before they could question me. 'Who are they?" Hawkeye asked me.

I replied, 'A secret couple.'

He was surprised. 'You chased them out so our group would remain anonymous? Good job, Agent Evan,' he gave me a thumbs-up, then looked at the others. 'And everyone else who have collected information. I want each one of you to brief me the information you've gathered.'

'Agent one is here to report!' Francis raised up his hand in excitement. 'According to Shinsoo School Superstar, Orchid, lightning strikes whenever the two come across each other.' Why I wasn't surprised that he went straight to Orchid when he was asked to gather details from the students?

Hawkeye looked at Mihile. 'Agent two is here to…' Mihile then looked around, embarrassed. 'Do I really need to do this? Anyway, Mr. Stan said civil war broke out between the two during every teacher's meeting.'

Chief Cygnus Knight of Lightning shifted his gaze to Nineheart. Reluctantly, he started reporting the information he found. 'I happened to find out the recorded number of fights between the two is a total of 288 times, and property damage as well as class interruptions are only a part of the damage that they have caused to the school.' I wonder where he found that information, and in great detail, too. The rest shifted their attention to me.

'I've heard this firsthand: Mr. Magnus called Ms. Hilla is a shrew, and she said Mr. Magnus is barbaric and unlikable.'

Mihile shook his head at the end, sighing. 'I don't think this would work out,' he looked at the leader of the group. 'How can we make them fall in love when they can't stand each other?'

'No need to panic, agents,' he said with confidence. 'The harder the battle, the more rewarding it is to the winners! Everyone, follow me!' The school bell rang right after his words, leaving him hanging as we looked at the door. 'Agents, we'll continue this after school!' he raised his hand up to the air. 'We'll start operation two after this!'

Francis cheered. 'Waaah!'

'Aww, I want to go home,' Mihile muttered under his breath.

'Why am I doing with them?' Nineheart looked at me. I couldn't avert my gaze in time and I merely shrugged. Then, all of us returned to our respective classes. Nineheart was sighing as much as the steps to the second year classroom. I wonder if he would continue to stick with this "infantile organization" made by Hawkeye after school. Time flew by and the final bell for the day rang. Everyone was quick to react to the sound and got up as soon as the teacher said "Dismissed!" Francis was rather excited of the event that would unfold after this.

'Let's go, Evan!' he called with a grin on his face. 'This time, there will be nothing that would get in the way of my love for Orchid!' I chuckled at his response. The last thing that would get in the way would be Orchid's rejection to his proposal, but I'm not eager to tell him this harsh truth. Bully frowned at Francis's cheeriness and pulled me for a moment for a talk.

'How can he be so happy when he was rejected thrice?' he asked. 'Every day feels like Hell to me when _she_ rejected me…'

I said, 'It's called "blind optimism". He's trying to look at any bright side he could find and hoped the reality wouldn't crush him as hard as it would.'

'And that would be…?' Bully raised an eyebrow.

'Don't ask me. I'm not him, after all. See you,' I left those words and went ahead to the "headquarters". I stumbled upon Nineheart who was coincidentally heading up with a serious look on his face. I wasn't sure if he was either angry or annoyed with this organization he had accidentally joined, or both. He could always leave, after all.

'What?' he scowled at me when I stared at him.

'Never expected you to come, that's all,' I shifted my gaze. 'Are you trying to fight for love as well?'

He faked a cough. 'Of course not. I'm checking on them so they wouldn't do anything reckless to the school.'

'That's one way to see the situation.'

'You seemed to always doubt my actions, Evan.'

I scoffed. 'That's because your actions usually have double meanings, Student President Nineheart, and you're not too honest of a person.'

'Aren't you too?' he asked. 'I wouldn't say I could completely trust you, Lying Transfer Student.'

'Glad that we're on the same page,' I smiled at him when we reached the top. 'It looks like we'll just have to _try_ and get along.'

Nineheart said nothing and pushed open the door. Hawkeye, Mihile and Francis turned around and faced us. 'You're both here!' Hawkeye grinned, waving at the both of us. Mir, I think you should stay here. I have a feeling that we'll be running around the school afterwards.

 _If you say so, Master._

I entered the rooftop. 'Let's start Operation Two: Public Opinion Manipulation!' the leader of the group said cheerfully.

'And how are we going to do that?' Mihile asked.

'People are conscious about what others would say about them. Even if one isn't interested in someone else, their minds could change depending on what they hear from others,' Hawkeye explained. 'So, how about we spread rumors about them in school? For an instance, we can post pictures of them being together.'

I frowned at him. 'How can we take such a picture? They would only scowl and glare at each other whenever they meet.'

'It's all about timing, Evan,' he wagged his index finger at me. 'Let's go, agents! Try and get pictures of them together, and we'll find the best among all of the pictures taken!'

'But it's late,' Mihile frowned at him. 'We should continue this the next day. They should be leaving soon.'

He looked at his watch and sighed. 'Agents, report yourselves by tomorrow, after school. In the time limit, try to get as many pictures of them as possible in a romantic scenario! But for now… let's go back.'

Francis looked upset. 'Aww…'

'Time is key in this operation, Agent Francis,' Hawkeye rested his hand on my classmate's shoulder. 'There will be light at the end of the _journey._ '

'You mean, light at the end of the _tunnel_ ,' Mihile corrected him.

He scowled. 'Same difference!'

I stumbled upon Hilla and Magnus spatting at each other in front of the teacher's office. 'Yet another student injured during today's PE lessons,' she crossed her arms during the dispute. 'How barbaric can you be? Is your mind only filled with muscles? You're making my job annoying!'

Magnus narrowed his eyes at her. 'They're weak, and it is my job to train them well. It is _your_ job to heal those who couldn't withstand my training, not cladding yourself with make-up all day long!'

'What did you say?' Hilla scowled. 'If _you_ don't injure so many students, there wouldn't be any work for me to do! Teach them gentle activities like yoga for a change.'

Magnus scoffed. ' _Yoga_? That's for the weak, like you.'

They continued quarreling. I took out my smartphone, turned on the camera app and remembered what Hawkeye had said. I waited for a perfect opportunity while they continued arguing about Magnus's rough PE session. A while later they merely glared at each other without saying a thing. I took a picture of them that way and sneaked out of the school.

 _Master, why do we need to take pictures of them? Can't we start rumors by spreading false information through verbal communication?_ Mir asked as we left the schoolyard.

With proof, rumors would yield a higher rate of success as the Black Mage Commanders weren't best in terms with each other, as most students know. However, I'm surprised that they weren't arguing when they apprehended the couple in the hallway beforehand. Perhaps their eyes were covered by a veil of jealousy that they discarded their hate momentarily.

 _Well Master, can't you attempt to get a picture while they were trying to pull the students away?_

That would be difficult, for the students' heads might get in the way of the pictures. That wouldn't be a bad idea to attempt, in any case. I bear that in mind and went back to Prefect's house. Upon returning, I saw Prefect crying on the couch of his home. Mir and I were dumbfounded at his situation and looked at each other.

 _Master, what's going on?_ The dragon asked.

I looked back at the sobbing Prefect. I have absolutely no idea.

Both of us approached him. In front of him were three manga, and one on his lap as he tried to remove the never-ending tears away from his eyes. He didn't seem to notice both of our presences. Mir removed the effect of illusion potion and tried to do random things around Prefect – balancing a book with its nose, flying past him, gently blowing fire in the house in front of his face, and even getting close to him while staring, but he didn't seem to notice the huge dragon around him _at all_.

 _Master, what now?_ It asked, panicked. _Why is he crying?_

Elwin came back after the question. He heard Prefect's sobs and frowned at the both of us. 'Did you two bully him?' he asked. Prefect lifted up his head upon hearing his voice although his tears remained trailing down his cheeks. Mir shook its head at the Barrier Master.

'Ugh… Elwin…' Prefect completely ignored our presence and looked at the blonde hair male. 'They… they…' He sniffed.

 _Master, this is going awry._

I nodded. We should move ourselves away from trouble. I took a step back and Elwin glanced at me, pulling out his staff from his multipurpose bag strapped behind him and pointed the other end at me. 'They… ended the series! It's all over! What am I supposed to read next?' Prefect wailed. All of us looked at him, dumbfounded. The otherworldly student continued, 'They ended so suddenly, and it was so good too… Why does a good manga have to be so short?!'

'See,' I said to Elwin. 'Why so serious?'

Elwin sighed and returned his Old Wooden Staff into his bag pack. Prefect had finally noticed us. 'When were you two here?' he sniffed, then took the box of tissue from the table in front of the couch, hugged it while pulling a few sheets of tissue, blowing his nose to the thin sheet. 'Did you read the comics to get that line?'

I raised an eyebrow at him. 'There's a comic character that uses that line?' I've never heard of it.

'Never mind.' He dried his eyes with the white, soft sheets.

'You were crying over a finished manga?' Elwin scratched the back of his head, confused. 'What was it?'

'The one about two students aiming to become manga artists, one who draws, and one who creates the story under a pen name that has letters off their names and the main girl's name. It only has twenty books.'

'Every beginning has an ending, you know that,' I said.

'That's true…' he sniffed again. 'Still…'

'And I thought I would join the both of you in your bullying…' Elwin muttered. Mir narrowed its eyes at him.

'We're not as playful as you are, Elwin,' it replied.

The next morning, I remembered we have PE as the first subject. Magnus told us to play basketball with our second year seniors due to the lack of students from the first year. Most of the girls seemed to be looking at the boys' basketball matches instead of engaging the sports themselves, though with the higher number of girls in the school, some who wanted to can enjoy themselves with the game. Francis was completely distracted with Orchid's presence at the sidelines, thus the first years' team were in complete disadvantage with the lack of one. Mihile, Hawkeye, Eckhart, Velderoth and one random male senior were the other team. I never played that kind of sports before, and Magnus had briefly briefed both parties before the game started. The girls seemed to be supportive of the second years'.

Naturally, the second years' team won. Hawkeye jeered at the first years' upon his final dunk as he was drowned in the cheers of the girls watching from the sidelines. He had the widest grin I've ever seen thus far. I glanced at Velderoth as the game came to an end, who spoke to Magnus cheerfully. I knew he was a follower of Magnus back in Maple World, but I don't think he would do any harm in Seoul. Not _yet._ Chief Cygnus Knight of Darkness left the cheering boys' group that huddled together in excitement and headed towards me. 'Good job,' he said. 'Too bad basketball isn't a one-man game.'

I chuckled. 'Surely the others weren't too bad as well.' He said nothing and looked to the direction where I was looking earlier. 'I haven't seen him before. Do you know who he is?' I took the advantage to ask him.

'Velderoth, captain of the soccer team. He's a soccer fanatic, so he'd be near the fields most of the time. Magnus is their coach.'

'Ah.' So nothing much has changed. I wonder if Kaiser and Angelic Buster had another self in this world. Surely the three of them would be good friends as well, without the backstabbing from Velderoth. If that's the case, I wonder if there's another me in this world, too. Will I ever encounter this world's Evan if I were to visit a farm somewhere? 'Not celebrating with the rest?' I asked after realizing he was still standing beside me.

Monotonously, he replied, 'Not interested. Then, he headed back to the bench to fetch his pair of monochrome headphones.

During first recess, I noticed Hilla walking towards the teacher's office with a scowl. Mihile and Francis seemed to notice it too, and the three of us headed towards the office. Through the small window, we saw them arguing over something. I pushed the door open quietly, creating a small gap so our phones would fit and able to take a picture of them having a "tender moment". Francis snapped one and ran away right after the flash went off. Mihile and I hid by the door in surprise, fearing that they would come over and found us. Secretly in our hearts we hoped that they never.

 _They seemed to have continued bickering again, Master._

I peered through the gap and Mir was right. 'Clear?' Mihile whispered. I nodded at him. Both of us continued to look for an opportunity for the picture.

'What are you two doing?' Nineheart asked from behind. Both of us jumped from his voice. Mihile gestured him to be silent and continued to observe the two inside the room. He frowned at me, then looked through the gap along with us. I took a picture of them a moment later.

Lunch break came. Someone mentioned that Hilla and Magnus were arguing in the nurse's office over a soccer player's injuries, so Francis and I went to check it out. 'Evan, my friend,' Francis whispered as the both of us peered through the small gap of the door. 'How are we supposed to spread a rumor of both of them together with this picture?' He showed me his phone. An image of both teachers arguing was on screen.

'I don't know why we're supposed to be all worked up for this,' I sighed softly. 'Is taking a picture this tough?' I remembered trying to get a picture of Orchid and ended up running from the school to Drizzle Trail for that picture.

'Usually it isn't…'

Magnus and Hilla raised voices. The gypsy seemed to be unpleased with the traitor pushing the soccer players too much to the point that they almost break, with the mentioned injured player lying on the bed beside them. She said that most of her patients were soccer players who either had a twisted ankle or bruise around the leg and told him to "be gentle". Magnus crossed his arms and told her to "do your job". This went on for ten minutes.

Francis sighed. 'How long are they going to bicker?'

'Until one of them gives up, I expect,' I murmured.

'That's not happening, Evan.'

A moment later, Francis got up and headed towards the music room. Faintly I heard Orchid singing from the room. He peeped through the small glass window on the door with a love-struck grin on his face. I shook my head and continued watching two Black Mage's Commanders degrading each other. Somehow I ended up with a picture of them after a ten-minute watch, before I ran down for lunch.

At the end of the day, we gathered at the rooftop as told. 'Alright agents, show me what you have taken for the past twenty-four hours,' Hawkeye said with a big grin on his face. I suspected that he hadn't done a thing at all. First up was Francis, who showed the picture of he had mistakenly turned on flash at the office. Their faces were close, but they weren't kind faces. Next was Mihile. He pulled out his phone and showed us a picture of them bickering.

Hawkeye looked at Nineheart. 'I didn't take a picture,' he said. 'I have other things to do.'

'Ugh, does anyone have a good picture of them?' Hawkeye started to look worried. 'Evan, show me the pictures you've taken!'

I did. The others crowd around the phone. 'These looks convincing,' the leader said. 'To unsuspecting viewers, they looked like they're having a tender moment.' He raised his head up. 'You have a knack for this, don't you?'

'Just enough patience,' I replied, remembering the work I had done to achieve such.

'They really seemed to be in a good mood,' Mihile commented.

'Now, post these evidential pictures everywhere in school. I'll print the pictures for you to do so. Don't let the teachers see you, or that'll be the death of you. Post the pictures in places with high traffic, like the bulletin board next to the entrance of the school, hallway walls of the first floor, and the teacher's room,' Hawkeye said with a grin.

'Even the teacher's room?' I frowned. 'Won't we need to put one in the infirmary, then?'

Hawkeye shook his head. 'There are many students who entered the teacher's office every morning, but not much to the nurse's office. Wait for me for a while – I'll be right back.'


	17. Chapter 14 (FS Chapter 3)

After school was a good time to explore the school. Everyone else went to their respective clubs while I waited for the perfect opportunity to paste the three pictures printed on a big piece of paper, sponsored by Hawkeye. I left the teacher's office for last as Magnus was training the soccer team during after school hours, just in case he peered into the office window from outside and noticed my presence. Elwin came into the room with me as he was curious of my actions around the school while sticking a big piece of picture on walls. As soon as the last picture was up, I noticed the four of them had entered the teacher's office together, with most of them tired of their club activities.

'Agent Evan, what are you doing here?' Francis turned towards Hawkeye. 'Captain Hawkeye, Agent Evan has deserted his post. He should be court-martialed and sentenced to buy ice creams! I want strawberry ice cream.'

'What?' I frowned at him. 'I wasn't deserting my post.'

'I want vanilla,' Mihile joined in. He rested his wooden sword on his shoulder. 'No matter how many times I've seen this, I wouldn't believe how cozy those two looked together in one picture.'

I shrugged. 'It's a good way to spread rumors with a fabricated picture, don't you agree? After all, a certain _someone_ said that people would be conscious of others talking about them.' Hawkeye had the widest grin among the four standing in front of me.

'That sounds plausible, but posting advertisements without approval is against the regulations…' Nineheart trailed off, looking at me. He knew that I didn't need any more words to describe how bad this would be.

'Good job, Agent Evan!' Hawkeye dismissed Nineheart's threatening tone completely. 'You're an important asset to our unit! Let's move on to our next operation!'

'How about the ice creams?' Francis asked, looking at all of us.

'Let's get them! Agents, move out!' Hawkeye raised his right hand up and marched out of the teacher's office. Elwin came out from the teacher's desk and followed after us as we left the school to the ice cream shop beside the school building called "Bobby's Corn". Although there was a picture of an ice cream as a sign for the store, the shop was called "Bobby's Corn" instead. Regardless, I don't question the odd store names in this world as Maple World doesn't have any - we have symbols instead. Along the way I noticed the couple I found out yesterday on the rooftop standing directly opposite of the school gate. It seemed that they were being smart to not flirt in school grounds anymore, just so they wouldn't be caught by anyone.

At the end, it was I who had to pay for the ice creams for everyone else. Fortunately, they weren't as expensive as I thought they would be. The five of us sat around a white table in the store, close to the windows, eating ice creams. Cygnus's luxurious black limo entered the schoolyard. 'So… what next?' Francis asked as he licked the strawberry ice cream in his hand.

'Rumors spread like wildfire – all you need to do is nudge them in the right direction,' Nineheart said, lowering his mint-flavored ice cream. I saw the limo pulling out from the window behind him. 'But spreading rumors on our own is dangerous. It's better if we create suspicious circumstance.'

Somehow Nineheart was oddly cooperative after I had brought him an ice cream. I guess he wasn't as cold hearted as I thought he was. 'Like what?' Mihile raised an eyebrow. The couple I saw earlier had entered the store. The bell placed on the door rang as they pushed the door in.

Nineheart bit a small part of the cone off his ice cream. 'For an instance, both teachers could catch a cold in this weather.' The couples stood at the counter. The girl seemed to be in a dilemma on what to choose.

Hawkeye gave a thumbs-up at him. 'Agent Nineheart, this is why you're the tactician of Shinsoo School Matchmakers!' he grinned. 'All right, the next mission is to infect them with a cold!'

'Hold on,' I said after taking a bite off my coffee ice cream. 'It's almost summer. How are we supposed to do that?' The couple was happy of getting a chocolate-vanilla mix ice cream and left the store.

Francis chuckled. 'With the power of the dragon in my right hand…'

'Ms. Hilla stored viruses in the nurse's office for research purpose,' Nineheart said, ignoring Francis's words completely. 'We can get the viruses from there.'

Hawkeye snapped his fingers. 'There's your answer, Evan!' he said, licking his chocolate ice cream. 'Agent Francis and I will lure out Ms. Hilla from the infirmary.' The taekwondo captain nodded at the doll maniac.

'Roger that!' Francis saluted enthusiastically. His ice cream almost fell off the cone and he did a quick save, sighing in relief at his efforts.

'Agent Mihile, keep watch and alert us before any enemies find us.' The bell rang again. It was some students from our school. One of them frowned at our gathering.

Mihile stopped licking his ice cream. 'Like guarding the staircase to the infirmary?' he frowned at Hawkeye.

The orange haired second year nodded. 'Report if you see any suspicious activities from the targets and enemies.' Then he turned to Nineheart as Mihile thought of some plan to prevent the other students from finding out our suspicious activity. 'Agent Nineheart, cover the teacher's room.'

'We'll see about that,' he continued eating the ice cream in his hands. 'When will we execute the plan?' The three students sat at the table closest to the counter. They placed their bags down on the seat and started talking.

'Tomorrow, during first recess. In the meantime, Agent Evan will procure some cold virus from the infirmary. Are we all clear of our roles?' Hawkeye glanced at the five of us.

'Shouldn't we have a meeting before we execute the plan?' I asked, taking a big bite on the cone. Francis was surprised on how fast I am coming close to finish the ice cream. 'Just so everyone would be at their posts at the same time.' One of the girls started to talk while staring at us.

'Good idea, Agent Evan! As expected of our important asset!' Hawkeye smiled. 'We will be meeting at the headquarters right after the bell rings.'

The next day approaches. I was itching for a fight with the monsters as I headed to the rooftop. It's been three days since Hawkeye dragged me to his ludicrous plan, and I haven't met any monsters during that period of time, if you don't count Hilla and Magnus's monstrous aura when they spotted a couple in school. The pictures were the talk of the school for a while behind both teacher's backs. Francis followed behind with an excited expression. The second years were there when the both of us arrived. Hawkeye briefed us about the plan once more before we parted ways to execute "Operation 3: Bio-lovefare". I was told to be at standby as the two love fighters lure Hilla out of her comfort room. I do wonder where Hawkeye got his inspiration from the operation names.

A moment later, I received a call from Hawkeye. 'The coast is clear! March into the infirmary for the viruses. Find as many as you can, and plant them into the targets' items!'

I went down the stairs after the order and entered the infirmary right beside the flight of stairs. 'Woof, woof! What are you up to?' Elwin asked, popping his head out from the gaps under the bed. Lily hissed at him. I understood why she did that and closed the door behind me.

'I'm collecting some virus to infect Hilla and Magnus for some operation. Do you know where they would be?'

Lily frowned. 'How are you going to do so?'

Elwin looked excited, on the other hand. 'Collecting virus, huh? That sounds like fun! Let me see it when you have it! There are all sorts of things in the infirmary, and I'm pretty sure you can find them from Dusts.' I was happy to hear that I would be able to fight again after so long. It must be an adventurer thing to be upset over the lack of fights. I opened the door to let Mir into the room. There was no movement for the first ten seconds.

I frowned. 'Mir?' I whispered.

'Your dragon left you?' Elwin laughed. 'Must be due to the lack of attention you gave to it these days.'

'No way…' I murmured, frowning. I couldn't sensed the dragon's presence on the fourth floor hallway at all. I closed the door again, closing my eyes and and concentrated at the dragon's whereabouts. I felt its faint presence beneath my feet. Was it still in the first floor, sleeping?

Mir, wake up.

 _Mmm…_ the dragon's thoughts were faint as well.

Mir.

 _Yes, Master?_ Mir replied. Its mind seemed to be in a haze. The dragon was most likely fallen asleep. It was confused after verifying my whereabouts. _Master, why are you at the fourth floor?_

Mir, I'm giving you one minute freshen yourself and fly up to the infirmary. We're going to hunt some Dusts. I opened the infirmary door so it would save time while the dragon entered the room.

In less than three seconds, the Onyx Dragon teleported up the where I was and rushed into the room I was in, shedding some wood off the door as it flew in. I was surprised at how fast it appeared as I looked at the fallen wood chips lying on the ground. Mir felt worried when I remained staring at them. I shook my head. They probably wouldn't even notice that anyway. I closed the door and entered the Dust Zone at the other end of the room.

In two minutes I came out with 50 Cold Virus bottles. I have absolutely no idea what Ms. Hilla was doing with these viruses… is she threatening to take over the school with this large quantity of tiny soldiers? Arkarium said that viruses have a diameter of 20 to 300 nanometer, and one bottle of this would potentially meant that there are more than a million – possibly billions of cold viruses, all trapped into this one small bottle. She has fifty of them, as I have retrieved all of them from the Dust Zone behind me. Surely she's plotting to infect everyone in the town with the amount of virus in her hands, and then –

 _Master, I don't think anyone could control anything that is so small that one couldn't even see with the naked eye. If Hilla was trying to take over the town with Cold Virus, surely a few of the students would have caught the flu already, right?_

'Evan?' Elwin asked. I realized I have been standing in front of the portal for a long moment. Lily stood beside him, frowning at my behavior. My hands held one of the fifty of the Cold Virus bottles from Dust Zone, which had a high drop rate back in the room. I would've said that it was raining Cold Virus bottles, but there weren't enough monsters to actually "rain" them.

'Sorry. I was wondering what Hilla would be plotting with this much virus in her hand,' I confessed to them. 'I must be overthinking it.'

'Perhaps. I don't sense any abnormality of Seoul's Hilla,' Lily said calmly. 'No one in this school seems to have any extraordinary abilities apart from you and Mir. Though, we shouldn't let out guard down because of that.'

'Are these the cold viruses?' Elwin asked. 'Geez, they're a lot. Let me see them.'

'You can't. Viruses are small.'

'Just put it down, Evan,' Elwin demanded. I compromised and placed the bottle on the ground. With his paws, he opened the bottle up and sniffed the inside of it. Lily looked cautiously at the bottle. Then Elwin sneezed. 'Get them away from me!' he cried, moving backwards away from the bottle. 'They smell strange – it's indescribable.' Then he sneezed again.

I put the remaining 49 bottles on a nearby table, then picked up the bottle on the ground. 'It's time to infect the two teachers with the cold virus,' Elwin said mischievously. It seemed that he was excited over planting the virus. 'We should plant the cold virus in the mug over there,' he pointed at the white mug on her table with a red Shinsoo International School emblem printed on it.

I frowned at him. 'Why? Wouldn't it be better if we plant it in the compact? She always uses it, right?' I pointed at the pink compact on her table.

'She planned to throw that away, so that would be useless,' Lily explained. 'All Ms. Hilla does in the infirmary was touching her make-up kit and drink coffee. Get it done before she returns.'

I nodded. 'Right.'

I approached the mug. There seemed to be a little description about it. "Hilla's favorite mug. Rumor says male students sometimes try to nick it." I raised an eyebrow. Why would the male students want to make small scratches on the mug? Wouldn't that attract her attention on knowing someone had tampered with the mug?

 _Master, I overheard that someone said "nick" means steal earlier._ Mir said. _Perhaps that "nick" in that context means stealing instead?_

That would make actual sense. I poured a small amount of liquid virus into the mug. 'That should do it,' I muttered. 'Next is Magnus.'

'Going to the teacher's office?' Elwin asked cheerfully. 'I'll follow you! It seems interesting – whatever you're trying to pull off.'

'I'm keeping an eye of other student's behavior,' Lily said. 'I'm not interested in your silly operations.'

I stuffed the Cold Virus bottle into my bag and opened the door. Elwin and Lily left the room, followed by Mir. As I waited it to pass, I noticed Elwin had a red collar around his neck. 'Who gave you that?' I asked.

Elwin touched the collar with his paw, then looked around. 'A girl gave it to me this morning. This shows her love for me,' he said proudly. 'Ah, being a dog is the best!'

'You can remain a dog for the rest of your life, Elwin,' Lily the cat smiled. 'That would save a lot of trouble.'

'I don't mean by that!'

Lily then went up to the rooftop whereas Elwin, Mir and I headed downstairs to the teacher's office. I met with Mihile on the second floor, who was keeping an eye of students going up or down from the stairs. We waved at each other as I passed by him. He frowned at Elwin's presence in the school, but spoke nothing about it. Reaching the bottom floor, I saw Hawkeye and Francis were confronting to Hilla of something. The captain of taekwondo club winked at me when he saw me coming down and nudged at Francis. The nurse seemed to be annoyed by them as she let out a heavy sigh and headed towards the staircase. Nineheart stood in front of the teacher's office.

'You're here,' the blue haired male said. 'The teachers are having a brief meeting with Cygnus. Make this quick.' I nodded at him and entered the office. I almost tripped on Elwin who rushed into the room at the same time as I do. Mir giggled behind us. 'Did you just laugh?' Nineheart looked into the room, frowning. I nodded and mimicked Mir's giggle, though the mimic was poor. He seemed to have something else in his mind, but he shook his head and remained standing outside the classroom.

'Mir!' Elwin whispered, scowling. Mir let out a soft whine of apology.

 _I'm sorry, Master…_

A blue sports water bottle coincidentally stood on Magnus's desk. "Magnus's favorite water bottle. No one else pays any attention to it." Clearly there weren't anyone else who would want to steal a water bottle from a teacher, right? I opened the cap of the bottle and poured some of the contents from Cold Virus bottle into the bottle, then swiftly closed it back. Some of the virus must have gotten into my nostrils as I felt my nose itching. I sneezed on my way out of the room.

'Gesundheit,' Nineheart murmured.

'Sorry?' I frowned at him, sniffing.

'Bless you.'

'Uh… Thank you?' I replied with a frown, trying to be polite. Do people say that when someone sneezes in Seoul? That's weird… usually only Clerics, Priests and Bishops are capable of blessing someone. Do I get some sort of stat boost from that? Certainly I didn't feel any different. I looked at my available buffs. There was nothing. I don't think Nineheart is a mage class, so why would he say that? I slid the door close to cover my tracks.

'All we can do right now is wait and see,' he said. The office door flung open, and out come the teachers from the room.

I nodded and headed back to "headquarters". Apparently there wasn't anyone there when I reached there. It seems that there wasn't anything important to do. I headed back downstairs as the bell rang. Nineheart called me when I reached the third floor.

'Could you come to the hallway? We'd better see ourselves if our strategy has worked,' he said.

'Okay,' I said, and hung up. He seemed to be enjoying himself in this activity despite being dragged along for the liberation of love in school. Was I right when I met him outside Cassandra's tent a while ago? Going down the stairs, I saw Nineheart peering out from the corner from the staircase. He heard footsteps and looked up, surprised for a moment before realizing it was none other than me.

'If they drank the cold virus, then it's about time for the symptoms to appear,' he said. I stepped on the first floor hallway, looking at what he was looking. There was a few students coming out from the cafeteria. A few of my classmates were talking outside the class with some seniors from the class above. Then, someone opened the teacher's office door from the inside. Coincidentally, there was someone opening the door from Cygnus's office. They were Magnus and Hilla respectively. 'Here comes the teachers. Shush, let's pretend everything is normal and wait.'

"Pretend everything is normal and wait"? I don't think it would be "normal" for the student president to be peering out of the corner of the stairs, and a student looking at the hallway, as if waiting for something to happen. I kept my thoughts to myself when Magnus and Hilla walked past together, sneezing and wheezing as the cold virus managed to overcome their body's barrier and infected them with a cold as the summer arrives. Somehow I remembered a girl in my class said that "only idiots will catch a cold" at this season. The students on the hallway noticed them and started whispering something among themselves. Hilla walked past us with a frown.

'It worked!' Nineheart said with a smile. 'With this and their pictures spread in school, rumors about them will snowball!'

'Nineheart, you're oddly excited about this,' I told him. Was he that excited to get Hilla and Magnus together? Or maybe…

He looked through my thoughts and scowled at me, then cleared his throat. 'Of course not!' he said. 'I just want to get this over with as quickly as possible, nothing else. Got it?' I continued to frown at him. He wanted to be justified about the matter. Couldn't he be honest of himself? 'What? If you have anything to say to me, just spit it out.'

'Nothing. You wouldn't tell me either ways,' I replied. Isn't that the definition of "tsundere" written in manga? Is he considered a "tsundere"? But I only saw that in women in the manga I've read. Perhaps it wasn't tied down to gender-only. I looked away from him and headed back to the classroom.

Lunchbreak. After lunch, I was summoned by Hawkeye to return to "headquarters". Upon everyone's arrival, he started the conversation. 'Thanks to you all, our initial operation has been successful. Now, the next…' he glanced at rest of us before stopping his gaze at Nineheart. 'What do we do next, Nineheart?'

'Rumors are just rumors after all,' the strategist said. 'They die away without their subjects' respond. It's time to help the subjects become aware of each other.'

'Will this all be in vain?' Mihile muttered.

'Yeah, that's what I was going to say!' Hawkeye attempted to recover some of our faith onto him. I think everyone here knew that he wasn't a reliable person when it comes to planning from the very beginning of this operation. 'So… what do we do?'

'Excuse me, Captain Hawkeye. I've got an idea,' Francis raised his hand up. We looked towards him. I was surprised. I've never thought Francis would be useful in this kind of situation, apart from making Hawkeye to feel good of himself, knowing that he actually had a supporter in this matchmaking group.

The captain of taekwondo club nodded. 'Agent Francis, go ahead.'

'How about we write their love compatibility by name on the chalkboard in every classroom?' he said with a smile. What on earth is that? Is there any legit way to proof someone is good with another person in this world? 'That'll help the school nurse and PE teacher realize they're meant for each other.'

'Care to explain?' I asked, frowning. How does that work?

'What's that?' Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. 'This is the first time I've ever heard about something like that.'

Francis looked at everyone. The rest was equally puzzled as the both of us. He sighed, pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil from his pants pockets. 'How can you not know about love compatibility by name? Ignorant humans…' he muttered. He must've forgotten that all of us _could_ hear him as we were right in front of him. Hawkeye and Mihile exchanged glances. 'All right, let me use my name and Orchid's name to show you…'

He headed towards the bench and used it as a table. Hawkeye and I leaned against the bench while Nineheart and Mihile looked at his work through the sides as he started writing the first two letters of his name on the left, and the first two letters of Orchid's name on the right. Then, he raised his right hand and mumbled something that sounded like a song as he counted something. Upon reaching the sixth, he quickly scribbled the number "6" below the first letter of his name, then continued counting again. Was he counting the letter's location?

 _Master, what are you doing? Everyone seemed to be gathering around. Can I join, too?_

No. You're going to scare them away with your big stature.

 _My size is directly proportional to your magic abilities! It is_ your _fault that I am_ this _big, master! Also, they can't see me, right?_

Right, it is my bad.

 _So, can I join?_

I can't explain a scaly creature brushed upon their skin while they stood around Francis, and the thing is invisible, too.

Mir was angry with me, but said nothing more. Francis had finished counting the numbers and proceeded to draw brackets beneath the numbers he had written. The first bracket consisted of the numbers of his first two letters; second overlapped his name's second letter and his beloved's first letter; the third was beneath the two letters of the school idol's name. Then he used his fingers to count something again. Beneath the first bracket he wrote "24". It seemed that he had added both numbers together. The other two bracket was "33".

'Math equation?' Hawkeye looked at the paper in disgust. It appears that he had a strong dislike against numbers.

'Shh, let me concentrate,' Francis said.

He drew another bracket beneath the three double-digit numbers, and wrote "6" at all three of them. I realized he was adding the numbers in each bracket together. What kind of equation is this? It doesn't make any sense. Then he added all three numbers together, forming the number "18", and added both numbers together, ending the calculation with "9". He wrote beside the numbers "years" and a question mark. He wasn't sure of the answer himself? I scoffed at the answers written.

'What's this?' Nineheart was confused.

'Strange… supposedly the end of the calculation would tell the years apart of the two names. The closer the number to the real years apart between the two people, the more suitable their relationship would be.' Francis got up from the ground and stared at the paper, confused.

'But you're only a year apart. The paper said it was nine,' Mihile pointed out the obvious.

'Looks convincing,' Hawkeye said sarcastically.

'Seems legit,' Nineheart added, putting more salt into Francis's wounds.

The hooded boy chuckled nervously. 'N-no way. There must be some mistake in this calculation. Some lowly humans must have fabricated the result to get between me and Orchid- _chan_ …' he said, pulling out his smartphone. 'Let me check again on the website where I find it…' I raised an eyebrow at him. Did that really came out from his mouth? He just used a manga-verse honorific. Unless, well, it really does exist in this world but in another place and I have no knowledge about it.

'All right, our next strategy is to write the love compatibility of the PE teacher and the school nurse on the chalkboard in _every_ classroom,' Hawkeye dismissed Francis who was frantic in worry completely and moved on. "Every"? Looks like I would be doing a lot of footwork. 'Agent Evan, go to the teacher's room on the first floor and procure some chalks! In the meantime,' he looked at every other "agents" around. 'Other agents will test the authenticity of their love compatibility by name.' Mihile and Nineheart sighed heavily at the same time. 'Let's go! Commencing operation 4: Love Fabrication!'

I believe that chalks would be in Dusts' hands, as they always have everything I seemed to need for the quests in Shinsoo High School. While they await for the latest information from Francis, I returned into the school. A brown puppy barked as I opened the door, gaining attention from the four outside as it ran into the building. 'How did a dog came in here?' Nineheart frowned at the sight. 'Evan, please bring it out of the school.'

'Yeah,' I nodded and closed the door. Elwin the puppy barked again, smiling at me. I picked him up and headed downstairs.

'You're not putting me outside the school, right?' Elwin whispered to me. 'I'm following you because I'm curious of what you guys are up to.'

'Well, I needed to scribble something on the chalkboard, so I'm off to gather some chalk.'

'I wonder how chalk in this world looks like…' he muttered. The girls were strangely looking at Elwin in his dog form as I headed downstairs. He wasn't lying when he said that he gained more affection from being a dog, rather than being a normal human being. Every floor I move down, the girls seemed to be squealing at the sight of him, saying that he's "adorable" and "cute". A second year girl on the first floor confronted me to not throw him away as it would be "animal abuse". I had to laugh at the statement. I merely carried him on my palm. How would that be animal abuse?

She scowled at me. 'What are you laughing at?'

'Sorry. It just occurred to me that it's funny for you to think that I would be throwing him by merely carrying the dog on my palm,' I replied earnestly. 'I have yet to done anything so horrible.'

She clicked her tongue and glared at me. I slid open the door and found all of the teachers in the room. Looks like I will need to come at another time. I stopped by again after lunch and saw Spiegelmann inside. I sighed and told Hawkeye that I would be hunting chalks later. Due to Francis's breakdown of the results, the four of them comforted him instead and have yet to finish calculating love compatibility between the old bachelor and the spinster.

I hung out in the library after school while I waited for the teacher's office to clear out. I found a thick book regarding the geographical map of this world and started reading it. It seemed that there are seven continents in this world, and many countries. There were also information about the languages available in the world, which, to my surprise, is more than twenty. There were only one language available in Maple World, if you don't consider the coding mechanics as a language itself. Seoul is a part of a continent named "Asia". It is also the largest continent among the seven of them.

I received a message while reading the book, disrupting several students in their homework and gave me a glare. I looked back apologetically at a few of them and pulled out my phone to see what message they were. Irena texted, "What are you guys up to these days?"

The phone vibrated in my hands, receiving Hawkeye's message, replying to Irena. "Ain't telling you."

It appears that Irena was suspicious of our activities. Have we gathered attention from the others about our operation? I could think of one pro and one con from this matter. If our activity continued to receive attention, that would mean that the students would be able to convince the teachers to somehow realize each other's presence more, from the rumors spreading, pictures of them together, and about the love compatibility next. The con of this move would be the teachers finding out who were the ones behind all these suspicious movements to set them up behind their back, and as Nineheart said, "posting advertisement without permission is violating the regulations."

He would be doomed too if we were all found out. The five of us are in the same boat. I shook my head, trying not to think too much about it. Maybe if we were lucky, we would be able to finish the task in hand before getting ourselves found.

I left the library after reading the book. Two hours had passed. I was all alone in the library at the end. The sunrays were hot and eye piercing. I headed down towards the teacher's office. Elwin was alone inside the room, seemingly awaiting for my appearance so he would be able to see the chalk in this world. I doubted there would be any difference at all. Mir and I headed into the Dust Zone at the end of the room and started hunting 25 chalks. I sighed at my quest log. What kind of thing I would need to write that would use 25 chalks?

'Say Elwin, did you find any chalk while you're in this room?' I asked.

The brown dog shook his head. 'Nope. There was nothing worth noting inside this room. Why?'

'Every time I need to find something, the Dusts would always take it beforehand. Are you really maintaining the Dust Zone properly?'

'I am! The Dust Zone cannot absorb ALL Dusts efficiently, so Lily and I would have to go rounds while you sit in the classroom doing nothing,' he replied with a pout. I had accidentally made him angry. 'There are a few students whose negativity would influence them to be stronger. And in that period before we noticed them, they would carry random things. That's why the Dusts usually have them. Even the teachers sometimes complained about missing items around school.'

I thought of his statement for a moment. 'And the items so happened to be the things I needed?'

'What are you thinking?' Elwin frowned.

'Someone might be controlling Dusts right under our nose, observing our actions, listening to us as we speak.'

Mir tensed. 'Master, you don't think…?'

Elwin yelped at its voice. 'Gah, don't speak so suddenly!'

The dragon felt guilty for scaring him. 'Sorry.'

'Well, you might be overthinking about this thing, Evan,' the magician looked towards me. 'There is no way to enter this dimension apart from the portal I made, and only the Maple Magician Association knows about the existence of it. People in Seoul don't have powers, and you know that.'

I frowned. 'What association?'

Elwin blinked. 'Oh, did we forget to tell you about it? Sorry. Master Grendel, Lily and I are a part of the Maple Magician Association. All magicians are a part of it, and will refer to the group whenever something happens.'

'Except me, it seems.' I crossed my arm.

'Look, I'm sorry, okay? It just… slipped off our minds, you know? Anyway,' he coughed. 'Since I was the one that… created the portal, I have responsibility to bear with it, so –'

'You needed to help me because I'm taking over Prefect here,' I finished his sentence. 'So it wasn't from sheer kindness, it seems.'

'Ugh, Evan, don't be so mean. You're too keen...' he sighed. 'Anyway, back on topic. There is _no_ way anyone could control Dusts. They are made of dark energy from our world. I mean, look at the Black Mage's Commanders' counterparts in this world! Surely, if they could control Dusts, they would learn about your existence. No one else seemed to pay much attention to you after the incident with Bully.'

'Maybe they weren't from this school,' I've decided to stick to my opinion.

Elwin shook his head. 'We haven't picked up anything of the sort. It might be all _coincidence_ for them to take the items, right?'

I said nothing. Are they really sheer coincidence that Dusts happened to take away the items I needed?

'Evan, don't you need the chalks for something else?' he reminded me. 'Magnus might come back any time soon. He's still out in the fields, but not for long.'

I nodded. 'Right.'

Mir and I entered Dust Zone. The Dusts inside roamed randomly. I stood near the portal as the time continued to countdown from the ten-minute mark. The monsters inside the area suddenly felt dangerous, even though I had killed them many times. Their abilities and appearance has never changed, but my opinion of them did. What if I am right? What if there was really someone watching me through the eyes of these monsters? What if they were testing me with them? But why? Mir nudged me from the back, snapping me out of my thoughts. _Master, are you still thinking about that? Elwin might be right about you thinking a lot. You tend to that, master._

I gripped tightly on my staff. Indeed I do. It is an important part of my survival instincts.

 _Let's go hunt for chalks, and we'll think more of this later, alright, Master? The chalks won't be dropping themselves without us hunting from them._

Mir was right. I nodded, and started attacking the monsters.


	18. Chapter 15 (FS Chapter 3)

'Haven't seen you like that for a while,' Elwin commented about my grim expression when I had finished my business in Dust Zone. 'Still thinking about that?'

'Slightly,' I confessed. 'When you reach to that conclusion, it's hard not to think about it, especially when the monsters are there.'

'Sucks to be smart,' he chuckled. 'You worry too much.'

I looked at him, surprised at his response. He wasn't the type of person who would say such things. 'Thanks for the compliment, I guess.'

He scowled. 'I'm not complimenting you! It was supposed to be an insult!'

'Right.' I figured as much.

He approached me. 'Well, did you find what you're looking for?' I nodded at him, showing one of the many chalks I've found from Dusts. There were other things that dropped from them besides multi-colored chalks. There were pens, pencils, empty notebooks, and papers with useless information from them. I wondered what their purpose of taking them was. 'Is that the chalk from this world?' his eyes sparkled. 'Whoa, let me see! Lemme see!' I laughed at his response and crouched down, putting down the item on the ground in front of him.

He was disappointed after looking around the item. 'Uh… they look just the same as those in our worlds,' he sighed heavily when I picked the chalk up. 'How disappointing.'

'Well, what were you expecting?' I asked, grinning at his high hopes.

'Maybe something cooler. By the way, scribbling, huh? Sounds like fun. What are you going to scribble?'

'Love compatibility by name. That's what they said what it was.' My phone let out a short tune. I took it out of my pockets to find Nineheart's message to me. "Combination of Magnus and Hilla shows that MaHi yields the smallest number of years apart. Once you have a chalk, write the combined name on the blackboard on every classroom. The calculation should end with 4 years difference."

'Love compatibility by name?' Elwin tilted his head to the right when I kept my phone in my pocket. 'What's that? Some sort of spell? It sounded like the name of a pentacle, too.'

There was a pentacle that sounded similar to "Love compatibility by name?" I thought for a moment and shook my head. It doesn't ring a bell. I shrugged at him. 'I don't know. The kids in this world seemed to like this kind of stuff.'

'Are you sure? I haven't heard of it so far,' he frowned at me.

He got me. 'Well… At least Francis is.'

'What are you doing the "thing" for?'

'Trying to pull a stun of pairing the worst two together in school. Supposedly rumors would be better off started with this.' I looked around the room, trying to find a piece of paper. I noticed the picture I had put up on the wall some time ago was gone. Had Magnus finally found it and ripped it off the wall? It was on a very obvious spot either way, and it was directly in from of him.

He seemed interested. 'Well… if you're going to do it, you'd better do it right. Scribble on the chalkboard on the first floor, second floor, and third floor classrooms, and it would definitely spark a rumor right off the bat tomorrow morning.'

I smiled. 'That's what I needed to do.' I remembered having a piece of paper inside my bag and took it out, then used a nearby pen from the table beside Magnus's work desk, and started working on the calculation of the love compatibility based off the formula from memory. Elwin got curious and jumped onto the chair, then onto the desk as I started calculating the letter's placing numbers. He stared at "MaHi" written at the top of the paper.

I followed the procedure. The letter "M" is at the 13th place. "H" is at the 8th. The letter "A" is the first letter among the rest, and the letter "I" is right after "H". He frowned as I wrote down the numbers beneath each letter. 'What's this? Some math calculations?'

I didn't answer him and started drawing brackets underneath the numbers. When you add up 1 and 8, it gives "9". The addition of numbers of the first two letters of Magnus's name ends up with 14, and the first two letters of Hilla's name sums up to 17. I split the numbers up and calculated it. Magnus's name yielded a 5. Hilla's name gave me 8. Adding 5, 9 and 8 turns out to be 22. The sum of the two numbers gives me 4. Satisfied, I wrote down the number of years at the end of the paper, and placed the pen right where it belongs.

'Wait… what?' Elwin poked at the end number. 'What's this?'

'The calculation for love compatibility by name,' I replied.

He stared at it for a little longer. 'I'm beat,' he lifted his gaze from the paper. 'I have absolutely no idea how you did it. Start scribbling now, maybe? You don't want Magnus to catch you inside here.'

I nodded at him and left the room along with the paper. Upon opening my classroom's door, I heard him appearing at the entrance, talking to Velderoth as they both entered the building. I sighed quietly and started scribbling the results of the love compatibility based off the calculation I had made on the chalkboard, taking up the whole board. Elwin looked at the board when I finished and suggested, 'Why not add something around the results at the end to attract attention?'

'Like what?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Hmm… diamonds and hearts, maybe? And maybe write the results a little bigger than the rest. Since you have different colored chalks, why not make use of it?'

I looked back at the scribbling done. Surely, it doesn't looked very attractive. I erased Hilla's name with my fingers and wrote it down with a pink chalk. I took his suggestion and wrote "4 years" bigger than the rest, adding a few straight lines surrounding it with diamonds drawn with yellow chalk. Hearts drawn with pink and yellow chalks surrounded the numbers. 'How's this?' I asked him.

He nodded. 'Looks good.'

We proceeded into the second year's classroom. Cassandra's Fan was still inside the classroom, to my surprise, and beside her stood Nineheart. Both of them turned around and looked at me as I stood at the entrance awkwardly with a brown puppy. Elwin quickly noticed his presence and scurried away before the strategist noticed him. He seemed to pick up something moving beside my feet, judging by a frown formed on his face, but had said nothing and turned back to Miss Appropriation. 'Anyway, you cannot stay here any longer. Please leave the classroom immediately, for I cannot assure your safety if you are still in school grounds during after-activity hours.' I had a feeling that those words were directed to me as well.

'R-right…' she nodded and kept all of her books swiftly, then paced out of the room. My eyes followed after her. I noticed that she really liked books, and Cassandra. Right after the thought I snickered at myself. Well, isn't that obvious? Her name is "Cassandra's Fan", after all. The blue-haired boy let out a sigh when she was out of my view.

'Get it done quickly,' he told me and left the room.

'You don't have to tell that _again_ ,' I muttered alone, then entered the classroom to finish my "mural" on the chalkboard.

 _Master, wouldn't it be better if you drew them during school hours? That way, it would gather a lot of attention from the students, and the teachers would notice the work, too,_ Mir suggested as I left the classroom. I shook my head.

No way. If I were to do that, I'm going to be caught red-handed. Assuming that by tomorrow, the teachers will be alerted of our movements, and we will have to be careful of our activities. At least, when that happens, no one will know who vandalized the school's chalkboards.

 _Well… you're right, master._

As I finished the last vandalism on the third year's classroom, I stood back and looked at the chalkboard, wondering if it would really help in spreading the rumors. Perhaps Magnus wouldn't be bothered by such childish matters written inside the classrooms, and Hilla might not know about such things. Mr. Stan would definitely attempt to get to the end of this for writing such things in the classrooms, and we might need to lay low for that.

Cygnus called me as I left the classroom. 'Hello, Evan?'

It had been a while since I last met her. Knowing her, she must be wondering why I have been avoiding her. Probably including Hawkeye and Mihile, but especially, Nineheart, her assistant. 'Yes. What's up?'

'I'm calling you since I haven't seen you all week,' her tone of fear gave her away. 'I haven't seen Hawkeye and Nineheart, either. A-are you tired of me?' I realized it was the first time I've heard her stutter. She was usually a confident young lady. Maybe the loss of Nineheart by her side made her lose them. 'Oz said I c-could get very tiring after a while… Is that it?'

A dialog box opened up in front of me. I had three choices to pick. "Some secrets can't be told even between friends", "Don't worry about it", and "True. You can be tiring". I had a funny feeling that no matter what I had said (or, in this scenario, picked), she would have taken it the wrong way. I randomly picked one that may hurt her the least. 'Some secrets can't be told even between friends.'

'I-I'm sorry,' she sniffed instantly, making me feel guilty. 'I forgot there are lines friends shouldn't cross… I didn't mean to pry on - Oh, Oz…' There were sounds of something being passed from someone to another. I heard Cygnus sniffing in the background, and I could hear the Chief Cygnus Knights of Fire faintly saying "Give me the phone."

Her voice became clearer. 'Hey, what have you guys been up to? Kids are whispering about how you flock together as if you're up to no good. What's your secret? I can't help but pay attention when all the other kids talk about is you.' Looks like we were in the center of attention. I knew something wasn't right when the girl apprehended me momentarily as if I was about to hurt Elwin in his dog form, but not to the point where some had noticed us. I guess those couples must have made wind out of the last meeting we had. I remember hearing some of them talking about Hilla and Magnus, but it isn't enough if all Oz was hearing were about the group, and our shifty movements.

I chuckled. 'We're definitely _not_ like what they're saying, but you gave me an idea. Thanks, Oz! Got to go!'

'Huh? Wait, hey –' Her voice was cut off as soon as I tapped on the red button on screen. The next thing we should do is to make the traitor and gypsy to be the talk of the school. But how? I looked at the "mural" again. This wouldn't help much, I believe. Then, there was a person clearing his throat from the entrance and I turned around swiftly, holding my umbrella up, ready to attack. It was Nineheart and I lowered down my guard, sighing in relief. He said nothing, but remained staring.

'Right, right… Sorry,' I said, heading towards the door.

'Some students have their eyes on us. The teachers will be out for a search for the students who did this tomorrow,' he said after I got out of the classroom. He then proceeded to lock the classroom. 'Do you think this would work?'

'Honestly?' I asked him. He turned towards me and nodded. 'No.'

He chuckled and stuffed the keys into his pants pockets. 'Honest. Me neither. We should avoid meeting at the rooftop tomorrow. Until next week, you should have plans on how to bring awareness to the targets.'

He was right. Though… 'You're rather hardworking for doing something to humor Hawkeye.'

His expression stiffened. 'I'm trying to get this over with quick,' he said quickly, acting composed.

I headed down the stairs, waving. 'Aye, aye.'

On the way back to Prefect's house, I couldn't help but think that someone could manipulate Dusts. What if the dark energies from Maple World had given Seoul's residents some powers? Perhaps they could control the monsters at their fingertips. In the worst case scenario, a Black Mage-esque individual would pop up, and bring forth what had happened back in Maple World. Even if the dark energies from Maple World didn't give anyone powers, how can we be so sure that there weren't singularities born with powers?

 _Master, I think you're thinking too much into this. We should trust Elwin for now,_ Mir attempted to reassure me. _I can feel your uneasiness, Master, but we cannot start blindly making assumptions that we have no proof of._

I stopped at the bridge. And can you assure that my assumptions are wrong? I looked to my left, where I felt the dragon's presence.

 _Master, both of us have no proof of what is going on. Maybe you are overthinking things about Dusts taking objects you required. As Elwin had aforementioned, they tend to take any random items. Surely, master, as you have seen in the Dust Zone in the teacher's office, you will know that I was right._

Every time? Wouldn't there be a moment where they weren't taking anything useful in my trip to find the quest items? Hilla's mug and Magnus's bottle were completely stuck onto the table. Apart from them, no one else could have taken them. That is how the map was designed. Or… how it was shown to me. I haven't exactly tried to lift them up. If they weren't, we could have been searching for them in the Dust Zone, too.

 _Well, there were those Rice Cake Skewers where you have to buy from Granny to finish the quest…_

That is _out_ of the school.

Some students walked past me gave a bewildered expression. I started moving across the bridge. Cars moving through under the bridge made the structure shiver every time one goes by. The vehicles made sounds, indicating their speed against the air. The sun was beginning to set. I couldn't help but feel worried. Outside this school, unknown to all of us, there might be a bigger threat than the counterparts of Black Mage's Commanders. While the Dust spawns are controlled by the three of us inside Shinsoo International School, how can we tell that they weren't appearing outside the school?

Mir let out a heavy sigh when we reached the other side of the school. Helena was patrolling nearby and smiled at me as she headed back to the police station. I smiled back. Even if forced, the smile quickly faded as soon as she shifted her gaze away.

 _Master, let us assume you are correct. Assume that there is someone controlling the Dusts. Assuming someone had manipulation ability_ and _could see the Dusts to control them. If they are targeting the school, surely they are also a part of the school. But Elwin and Lily would have noticed if something was off inside. They had time to roam around the school while you sit inside the classroom, listening to lectures of some things you have already knew._

They might not be from the school at all.

 _But why? Why would they take things from the school if they weren't personally in it? And how would they know if those things exists, Master?_

Maybe they could see the memories of the Dusts.

 _Elwin and Lily had been trapping them in the Dust Zones. They cannot do such a thing, master. There's also a guard in school. They would have noticed if there's any unauthorized person entering the school._

I bit my lower lip. I hate to admit it, but the Onyx Dragon was right.

 _If the person could control Dusts, how could they have achieved the powers of both controlling the monsters, and read their memories? Mastering one would take a lot of time. Both would take more._

Right.

 _Perhaps Dusts appeared outside the school, but the siblings would surely do something about it. So, don't think too much about it, okay, Master?_

I sighed. The conclusion Mir had given to me made everything I thought simple and understandable. I felt like I made a fool out of myself. I nodded at the invisible Mir, who was instantly overjoyed at my acceptance of defeat in theory. Black Mage may have a counterpart in here, but maybe I was overthinking about his personality in Seoul. I headed back towards the house.

While waiting for the siblings to prepare dinner, I sat outside the house, spacing out. Mir sat across me, giving a blank look, reflecting the lack of thoughts of mine in its eyes. Unconsciously, we had a staring contest. Both of us stared into each other's eyes, competing who could withstand the longest time without blinking. Mir's eyes was bigger than mine, and was susceptible for a higher rate of water evaporation due to its large surface area, so it couldn't help but closed its eyes for a moment to freshen them after three minutes had passed. I blinked several times to do so as well.

'Evan! There you are,' Prefect came out from the house. 'Did you buy the latest manga for the basketball one?'

It had slipped out of my mind. 'Sorry, no.'

His shoulders slumped. 'Aw…' Then, he noticed both the dragon and I were staring at him. He looked to and fro from our gazes, and frowned. 'What are you two doing here? Do you have something in your mind? I can listen to you, if you want to.'

Will Prefect know about powers and abilities? As far as I know, he first saw magical things in this world. I doubted that the people in Seoul have special powers. How about the people in other continents? Do they have super human strength? There was a nagging feeling behind my mind that a part of my theory is right. Mir knew that too.

'Hmm?' Prefect walked closer to us.

'Hey –' I began, but was quickly cut off by the Onyx Dragon.

'Do people in your world have supernatural abilities?' it asked.

The otherworldly student blinked. 'Hmm…' he crossed his arms and sat on the ground with us. 'I remembered some people have the ability to see _ghosts_. There are also rumors of some people being able to see the future. Some have magnetic powers, resulting in attracting metal pots and pans…'

'Manipulating others?' I cut straight to the point.

He frowned. 'You mean like hypnosis? Then, yes.'

Hypnotism? I don't think Dusts are subjected to it. I looked away and let out a heavy sigh. Not getting anything to proof my theories right or wrong makes me feel uncomfortable. It feels like I was missing an important piece. But what is it? I don't seem to find it yet. It is making me frustrated.

Mir burst into a fit of rage and spread its wings wide, flapping them to produce wind around us. Prefect flinched at its actions and crawled towards the wall for protection. 'Argh, master, your negativity is annoying! I told you that you're just overcomplicating things!'

'I am annoyed too!' I scowled at it. 'Don't you think it's weird?'

'Why don't you just let it play out when it decides to come out? You don't need to pry into the future to know what it holds, master! Didn't you say that? "What matters is the present, not the past, nor the future." So don't think about it, and let it unfold in front of you!'

I clicked my tongue. 'Do you want to finish this the old fashion way, Mir?'

'Bring it on!' it cried, flapping its wings at me.

I got up from the ground and took my staff out of the bag. 'N-no f-fighting, g-guys!' Prefect said to calm us down, but it didn't happen.

'We'll go bossing!' I told the dragon, pointing my staff at it. 'Every single one of them! We'll solo them all!'

'Yeah!' the dragon roared along and got off the ground.

'H-h-h-hey, c-c-c-calm down, now…' he muttered. But it was too late. We had already sprinted towards the Interdimensional Portal, and headed into Pantheon to start destroying Normal Magnus.

I came back at one o'clock in the morning, less frustrated and more tiring than before. The house was dark and quiet. Mir flew into the house, carefully not to bump into anything. The dining table had two plates of cold spaghetti topped with meatballs, a plastic wrapped itself around it. One of the plate was bigger, and had a bigger portion than the other. Beside them was a steel fork. I took them and passed through the wardrobe, and sat at the bed. I wanted to talk to Mir about something.

It knew my thoughts and landed by the bed. I placed the larger plate on the ground, then removed the plastic wrap around it. I crumpled it while the dragon sniffed at the cold food.

'Mir.'

'Yes, master?' It looked at me.

'Why do Dust exists?'

The dragon scoffed. 'It's the dark energies that was introduced into the other world. We learnt that from Grendel.'

'And the counterparts of Black Mage's Commanders and Cygnus Knights' existence?'

The dragon sniffed at the spaghetti again, its mouth watered. 'Grendel said it is because both of worlds are parallel to each other.' Then, its stomach growled loudly. Both of us were silent for a moment as we listened to the sounds beyond the wardrobe. Mir flinched upon hearing something, but nothing happened after. It might be one of the residence turning around due to the noise made. Both of us sighed in relief, and giggled when we realized each other was doing the same.

I continued, clearing my throat. 'Remember during the Big Bang, where monsters became stronger because of the Black Mage's awakening? His powers changed the regional maps of Victoria Island as well.'

Mir had started eating the spaghetti while I was asking. With its mouth full, it managed to make a clear "Yeah".

'Let us assume that the dark energies that are introduced into Seoul is the same as Black Mage's power, which made monsters stronger and higher levels than before. This energy is introduced into a new place, and morphed into a new appearance, which we called as "Dusts". They leave weird traces that are similar to dusts.'

'Wurgh argh yield tying tool sane? (What are you trying to say?)' Mir continued eating the huge pile of spaghetti prepared before we had left to vent our anger. The vague smell of the spaghetti made me hungry, but I managed to resist its aroma's persuasion.

'Black Mage from our world are able to change the monster's stats at will, but couldn't control the appearance of the monsters, right? But there are no monsters in Seoul. So how did Dusts managed to form themselves?' I paused briefly and was responded with its munching noises. 'My theory is Seoul's Black Mage is capable of giving form into monsters using the dusts in the air.' Mir choked on the spaghetti upon hearing it and started coughing hysterically. I used my staff and hit its back several times. The dragon spat out a half-eaten meatball and a perfectly round one, both coated with its saliva, landed a few meters away from its plate. I pulled out Holy Water and poured its content into its mouth as a replacement of normal water.

'There's a Black Mage in Seoul?' Mir frowned at me, almost too loudly. I gestured it to be silent. The dragon pricked up its ears for any sounds. Nothing. 'That is technically possible, since we saw counterparts of other people from Maple World in there, master, but how can he have such powers?'

I shrugged. 'That, I don't know. But think about it. How can monsters exist when Black Mage couldn't create new monsters in Maple World? Surely someone else must have manipulated and gave the dusts a new form. Their appearance are totally different than the monsters we've seen.'

Mir lowered his gaze at his spaghetti. I took the opportunity to clean up the mess made by the dragon. 'How is that possible?' the dragon asked while I picked the meatballs up with my bare hands. It feels disgusting to touch slimy food. 'How can he gather so many dusts to create such a form, and make plenty of those monsters? There's almost an endless supply of Dusts!'

I chanted fire magic and burnt the meatballs in my palm. Temporarily, the room was filled with the smell of burnt food. Mir cooperated with me by flapping its wings, creating air movement to remove the smell. 'Don't you feel the air in Seoul is different than in Maple World? It smells different, and you could feel something uncomfortable in them. Every day, there are a thin layer of dusts formed on the tables. Seoul has a lot of dusts to create Dusts. Maybe some of Maple World's properties have been introduced there to keep the constant flow of Dusts.'

'Then… Black Mage of Seoul has powers too? Will his thoughts from Maple World be sent to Seoul? Will Seoul be…?'

I went to the bathroom and cleaned my hands. 'I don't know. But we should watch our backs for now, just _in_ _case_.'

'Should we tell Elwin and Lily about this too?' It whispered. I could tell that it was uneasy of my theory, and fear started to build inside it. It was obvious why. Six heroes, the King of Onyx Dragon, and the demon twins were against the genius magician, who is also the Transcendent of Light, and they barely sealed him in. They might be stronger now that they have awakened, but the enemy is growing as well. Von Leon, Hilla, Magnus, Arkarium, Dream Manipulator, Black Wings, adventurers that went to the dark side, and not least, Gelimer, with Lotus. They are strong.

'We'll tell them tomorrow.' I took the fork, removed the plastic foil covering the spaghetti, and started digging in (that's what they said in Seoul).

I noticed Mir was staring at the pile of spaghetti, now halved from its short-lived feast earlier. It didn't feel the need to eat anymore. 'Don't worry too much, Mir. You'll get stupid if you think too much,' I teased. The dragon scowled, and opened its mouth to speak, but I raised my hand to stop him. 'Plus, the spaghetti isn't going to eat itself.'

'How can you still have the need to eat anything? Right now, we don't even know what he's doing!' the dragon stood up. Fury boils inside him. 'He might be trying to turn Seoul into a state of war at this very night, while we are tired and worn out!'

'And what can we do with the two of us?' I asked after swallowing the mouthful of spaghetti, then pointed the tomato-coated fork at it. The dragon staggered at the sight of it temporarily before its face returned to a scowl. 'Enlighten me.'

Mir started thinking. I retracted my fork and started eating again.

Halfway through my food, the dragon turned around. 'Where are you going?' I asked. 'You're not going to last without your dinner.'

'I'm telling the heroes about the news,' the dragon said.

I speared the spaghetti with the fork. 'We can't tell anyone about the other dimension. I know what you feel, but without proof, a theory is a mere theory.'

'But the Black Mage-'

'Now, now,' I cut it off. 'It's a _mere_ theory. Calm down.' The roles have been reversed. Have I been panicked so much that it influences the dragon so much? I should be careful of my thoughts from now on.

'Calm down?' It raised its voice, glaring at me. 'If it is true, then –'

Firmly, I called out its name. 'Mir.' I pulled out my staff I stored inside my bag.

'What?!'

The other tip of the staff touched its head and Mir jumped. 'Stop picking up your stupid owner's bad habits. Pick up the good ones, for Rhinne's sake.'

Mir realized its situation and casted its large eyes to the floor. A brief pause later, a soft mutter came out of its mouth. 'Right.'

Both of us ate supper quietly. I was surprised at how well the trio were sleeping. Mir was barking at me rather loudly. After cleaning up the plates, both of us stared out of the window, looking at the quiet road. A policeman was patrolling on the streets. Few cars drove down the road. On the other side of the bridge, someone with a torchlight was guarding in front of the old building. Many students mentioned that the abandoned building was haunted. Cygnus didn't demolish the building because she wanted to make it as a commemorative of the school she had taken over.

Several Dusts came out from the shadows and lingered on the street. Some stood near the garbage, searching for something. Some floating aimlessly near the school. Some went through the small gaps of doors into the buildings. A few adults who walked on the street would yelp at the sudden botch of black ink suddenly splattered on the floor, when it was the Dusts appearing from the ground. They ran away quickly.

I tossed my theory aside and went to bed.

As expected, the next day, Chief Stan entered the classroom. 'There are students who have been vandalizing the white board with weird numbers,' he said sternly, his eyes hovered at everyone's face. Francis was exceptionally bad at maintaining a straight face and started getting nervous, his face turned red. Chief Stan must have poor vision, for he couldn't see his obviously shown guilty face. 'I have heard many news of weird activities. If I were to catch any of you doing suspicious activities, actions will be taken. Do you understand?'

A few gave a flimsy nod. Two students turned around and talked to their friends as Chief Stan nodded back to the class and left the room. Francis became even more nervous. Bully poked me from behind and I turned around.

'It was you, wasn't it?' he asked.

I feigned innocent. 'What?' I frowned.

'The guy who's making all the commotion about Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus. It's the talk these days. What are you trying to pull?'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' I shrugged at him.

He scowled at my response.

Hawkeye sent a message during first break. "No meeting today – Mr. Stan is watching the students like a hawk. Some students confessed of our suspicious movements. Continue operation next week. Evan, I hope you have a plan for making our targets notice each other."

"Roger that!" sent Francis.

"Maybe asking opinions about how the other teachers think about them having in common? IMO that would give us a start," texted Mihile.

"Like arguing every single time they meet?" I replied.

"Apart from that, Evan. Everyone knows that trait," Mihile replied.

"Start with Mr. Stan next week. It might give us some clues. He had the longest interaction with Mr. Magnus and Ms. Hilla," Nineheart sent.

Hawkeye sent, "If we could somehow make the school nurse and PE teacher have a quiet moment together…"

I sighed upon reading Hawkeye's texts. If we could.

Weekend came by. TooSwift4Ya pulled me to Free Market, the place I hated, and browsed the stores for an hour. He brought a few pieces of Utgard bowman armor from all the browsing. 'What are those for?' I raised an eyebrow. He is a thief class after all, and with Root Abyss gears and Tyrant equipment, those are completely useless to him.

'My cousin. Part of the Cygnus Knights, a Wind Breaker. Recruited by Nineheart himself, I heard.'

'Who would go with that guy?'

'Ya think so too?' He sighed heavily. 'Said she found the love of her life. Well, while she becomes an errand boy – uh, girl – for the strategist, needa make sure she don't die that often in bosses. Hopefully, the coming weekend, both of us can get her to boss farming.'

'What level is she?' I asked.

'Just reached fourth job. As long as she can get to 130, most bosses should go fine. May need a bishop around, though.'

I frowned at him. 'Too much mesos? You're doting on her.'

Swift shook his head. 'Needa make her go bossing with me while ya gone, eh? It's boring if ya going solo. Can't R.A. too, ya know.'

I scoffed at his excuse. 'Make some new friends, dammit.'

He laughed.

Monday. I asked Chief Stan after school. "What do Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus have in common?' he eyed at me suspiciously. 'Well, I can't tell you. They are like fire and ice, and being three years apart doesn't help their differences. In almost every teachers' meeting they fight like cats and dogs. Once they started fighting, they're unstoppable.'

'What happened to the other few exceptions?' I asked.

'One of them are absent from the meeting. Every teacher yearns that.'

'Ah.' I nodded in agreement.

'But who knows, they might be friendly outside the school.' He shrugged. It doesn't seemed that he could imagine them being friendly to each other. I remembered Nineheart mentioned that they have over 200 fights together. 'The security guy might be able to tell you more about them.'

He must've meant Ericsson. He was the guard at the old wing.

On my way out, I heard some noises at the side of the school. I suspected it was the couple, but I wasn't interested in their business and headed out to the school. 'A common denominator between the two?' The guard frowned at me. It wasn't the first time we had met, but perhaps a student out of the blue asking him about what Hilla and Magnus have in common must be weird. 'Both of them are temperamental…' he stroked his thick beard, thinking. A moment later, he gave up, sighing. 'Ah, forget it. I don't think they have anything in common. Even their hours in school are different.'

'How about after school? Perhaps friendlier outside school?'

'Are they friendly outside the school? When hell freezes over!' he scowled. 'A few days ago, I saw them trying to hit each other's car because of a parking space. Hmph.' The surprising part is that the both of them managed to tolerate each other's existence in school if they both hated each other so much. Cars are dangerous objects in their hands.

'Do you think they'd be… you know, romantically involved?' I gave one last shot, though I know how this would end.

'I'd say zero percent, but what do I know? I am just a security guard. You should ask those pretty girls in school instead.'

'Pretty girls?' I tilted my head aside. What's he pointing at?

'Don't act dumb,' Ericsson smirked. 'You know… like that idol in school, or that green haired girl from archery club. They should be more knowledgeable than a guard should. Anyway, why did you want to know?'


	19. Chapter 16 (FS Chapter 3)

After carefully talking my way out from Ericsson, I came back to the school building and sat on the second step of the staircase, wondering.

Truthfully, I don't want to find both Irena and Orchid. Mainly Orchid, due to knowing that she actually has feelings for me, but at this point I could risk it (maybe) because I have yet to contact her for a long time. Irena will know what we were doing in secret and may spoil it by accident. Probably by compromising, she would keep quiet about it.

Mir slapped my face with its front limbs, squishing my face in between its sharp claws. _You know what to do._

And I do. Man up, or some shit like that. So the kids around school would say. I realized I'm slowly transforming into a part of them and pinched in between my eyebrows, thinking of how different I became. Horrifying. It is impressive how one could change easily by the influence of people around you.

I started off by going into the second years' classroom. Despite being after school, I found Orchid standing by her table, her hands holding her pink-cased phone, probably texting, in class. There was no reason for her to be, or why she was there, but what can I say about it, with the game's information slowly leaking towards the other world? She didn't seem to notice my presence despite the fact I had accidentally slammed the door to its hinges because it was temporarily stuck. Inching closer, I noticed the white earbuds connected to the phone. It sure did blend into the color of her snow-white hair.

Enough looking. I called her name out in hopes of a reaction. Her face turned into a scowl, as if she had just heard someone hideous calling her name. I snapped my fingers in front of her and she finally pulled out the earbuds, sighed heavily in annoyance, and spoke before slowly turning, 'Now, look here, I am not –' She quickly trailed off upon noticing me, her expression changed from irritated to surprise, and quickly became composed. I should learn how to change expression quickly as she does. It would be useful. 'Evan.' My alias slipped off her lips as it was a detested subject. Did my ignoring technique work? It surely seems so, but I need to extract information from her.

'Yes?' I have nothing to defend myself. Let's hope for the best.

'I thought I have told you not to talk to me in school.'

I have failed. Ignoring didn't work. In this situation, it was the most ideal situation to get information off of her. I covered up my disappointment with a smile. 'Sorry. I just needed to ask something from you. If you are busy, I'll leave you alone.'

'Hmph,' she turned away from me. 'I'm a busy woman, but I supposed I could help you, since you asked so nicely.'

I do wonder why these _tsundere_ people wouldn't be honest to others. Maybe it was hard for them to do so, given to their own circumstances. 'Do you know what Hilla and Magnus have in common?'

She frowned at me. 'Hilla? Magnus? Who are they? I don't know anyone with such names.'

Didn't Francis once asked Orchid about them? What happened? Did he lie? 'You don't know the sole school nurse and P.E. teacher?' She shook her head, still frowning. Maybe he did lie. Well, that was in the past, and it barely contributed to the topic on hand before. 'I see. Thanks anyway.'

'By the way, why aren't you texting me first? You haven't been calling me either, even though I've told you so.' The white haired girl stuffed the earbuds and phone into her right skirt pocket.

'I've told you that I might forget, remember?' I replied. 'Were you waiting?' I hope not.

'W-who says I've been waiting?' her face turned bright pink. Oh, there we go again. I couldn't be any happier with Francis sitting comfortably in his house right now. Things would have been much complicated if he sees this. She shook her head to justify it after a pause, perhaps seeing the relieved look on my face. 'That's not true! You've ruined my good mood. I'm leaving!' Then, she stormed out of the classroom.

 _Master, her face reminds me of apples. Will you buy some apples before going back home?_ Mir asked through telepathy. _Also, s_ _top sighing, master. They said it will make you get older quickly if you sigh to much._

I sighed again in front of the dragon, going against its wishes. I don't care if I do look older than I really am. I'm not worthy of her affection. I will leave this world one day, no matter what. I don't belong here.

I couldn't find Irena in her classroom and assumed she was in the archery club for the day. I remembered someone mentioned that there was an archery clubroom in the hidden hallway that I thought I couldn't access on the third floor. I closed the classroom door and headed into the hallway where the map for it doesn't exist. As I wasn't familiar to the area, I had to look up to find the name "Archery Club". It was somewhere in the middle of the hallway. It seemed to be a huge room as it had two sliding doors instead of the usual one from classrooms and offices. Through the gap in between the doors, I saw Irena and several other members were practicing archery, each of them drawing their bows to hit the targets far ahead. I've decided to wait for her outside the room until the club activity is done.

The club thing was taking longer than I had expected. I have finished my homework for the day with the aid of Mir's coarse skin as my table, and the activity was still ongoing. So I closed my eyes for a moment, hugging my umbrella, because it was the only valuable thing I don't want to lose.

The next moment I opened them, I received a gentle nudge on my head, my surroundings were soft giggles. Irena stood before me, a light metal bow on her hands close to me. The background were the other members of the archery club. The males shook their heads and left, the girls whispered to each other about something funny. It took me a while to realize that the other end of the bow was on my head. 'What are you doing here?' she raised an eyebrow at me. 'Surely to not sleep in the corner like that.'

I raised my right hand up and yawned, my left hand covering my mouth. My mind was still in a daze. I saw her legs moved into the archery clubroom, perhaps she had realized I was in no condition to think right off the sleep. I watched as the members slowly left the clubroom, some thanking Irena inside by bowing deeply as a gesture of gratitude. I saw some of my classmates inside, in which gave me a strange look, but no questions were directed to me when they left.

When I finally got up from the ground, Irena was already outside, locking the clubroom shut with a key. 'Freshened up?' she asked, chuckling. I nodded. 'What have you been up to? Hawkeye was yammering about some sort of _covert operation_.'

It looks like the cat's been out of the bag for a long time now. Not to blame Hawkeye for that – I should've known. It seems that the best option is to tell her the truth. 'He dragged me into pairing up Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus. Any help is appreciated to contribute to such points.'

She choked herself from her saliva from hearing that. She gestured to me to stop as she repeatedly hit at where the trachea was behind the skin. I stood aside in silence, my hands awkward stretched out towards her as I was worried about her condition. Thirty seconds later, she was fine and took several deep breathes to stabilize herself. Right after, she screamed at my ears, 'What?! Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus?' I felt ringing in my ears, even though she did not literally screamed at them. 'Shut the front door!' I didn't understand this phrase. 'They're like fire and ice. Even cats and dogs get along better than those two.'

'Don't get mad at me...' I whispered. It wasn't I who suggested this ridiculous plan. If they do get along with each other, Maple World would be horrible. Fans who "ship" them would explode into tiny pieces, and worse if the two bosses decided to join hands.

'You want to set them up?' Irena shook her head and scoffed, 'That's not going to work, Evan.'

'You think so too?' The task is starting to be vexing, to be frank.

'But you know what the most interesting thing about men and women is?' She looked at me, a smirk formed on her face. I shook my head. She continued. 'The harder they try to not think about each other, the more obsessed they become.' I blinked at her. I think I understand what she was trying to say, but I had barely scratched the surface of her words. She chuckled at my stupefy expression. 'See, they may not have been interested with each other, but if someone keeps trying to set them up, they might ponder over the possibility. Do you know what I mean?'

 _Master, does she mean we should just continue what we were doing?_

I think so. 'More or less. Would you give an example?'

'For an instance, I'm –' she slapped her mouth instantly, surprising the both of us. Her face was slightly reddened, probably due to the slap, or other factors. She cleared her throat, pretending that it didn't happen at all. 'Ah, never mind,' she faked a cough. 'You know what I was getting at, don't you?'

I paused momentarily. Curiosity kicked in. Everyone would ponder on what she was trying to say, right? Especially with her huge reaction. There was one person on my mind of who she was about to mention about, but I said nothing about it. I smiled at her. 'Thanks, Irena.'

Irena went to Cygnus's office to return the key to Nineheart, so she went ahead. I was thinking of what to say to both teachers. Maybe it was time for me to be direct about this. As I left the hallway that was hidden from the mini map, I noticed Oz standing at the corner, a huge grin on her face. Have she overheard our conversation? 'Don't worry,' she said, as if knowing what I was thinking. 'I won't tell anyone about it.'

'You're the last person I would trust a secret to.' Knowing Oz, no matter how sly she is, she would blurt out valuable information by accident.

'How cruel,' she whined, approaching me. Her expression became serious. That expression of hers was rarely seen as she was usually a bubbly person, and appeared to be an airhead, even in Maple World. She didn't become the Chief Cygnus Knight of Fire by being an idiot, after all. 'Aren't you curious too, Evan?'

She must have meant about what Irena was about to say, but she managed to keep it to herself. I kept my expression to myself, and said monotonously, 'Slightly.'

'I know who Irena has the _hots_ for,' she giggled, waltzing towards the staircase. Before heading down, she said, loud enough for me to hear, 'Naturally, my lips are sealed. We're BFFs!'

 _Master, what does she mean by "BFF"? I think I forgot about it._

It stands for "Best friends forever".

 _Oh. Yeah, right._

I slowly walked down flights of stairs down to the first floor, still thinking on what to say to Magnus, the first among the two to test out this hint Irena gave me. The first floor hallway picture I had placed was gone. I stared at the blank wall with cellophane tape remains on the wall, still thinking. When I turned around, drawing a blank, I noticed Magnus staring at me oddly. I think he knew that I was the one who put that up, but he said nothing and entered the teacher's office. I peered through the gap, staring at him while wondering the words I could say to make him conscious about that gypsy. A small dialogue box appeared to my side, telling me on what to do for my next move. The codes gave weird instructions, but it sounded interesting, so I've decided to try it out.

Reluctantly, of course.

 _Master, stop lying. You are quite into this, just like the Nineheart you had made fun of a few days ago._

Shut it, Mir.

When I finally made up my mind, I stepped into the teacher's office. Magnus was very vary of me as of now because he noticed me staring at him while he was doing his paperwork. 'Hey, why do you keep snooping around?' he scowled, standing by his work desk. 'What do you want?'

Smiling, I began my plan. 'Mr. Magnus, do you believe in serendipity?'

'H-huh?' his face drew a blank. He probably didn't know that word exists. Pretending to be knowledgeable, he stood at his ground. 'What are you asking now?'

I took two steps forward. He shifted his weight onto another leg. You can see how uneasy he was about my presence. 'What do you think about your odds of meeting your soulmate at the same place, in the same country, and in the same era, among billions of people in the world?'

'What are you, a philosopher? What are you trying to say?' He remained firm on his ground.

I took a few steps forward. Being too close to me, he took two steps back. He was both confused and frightened right now. 'Maybe it's not serendipity. If you and her have been coming to the same workplace every day, but have never run into each other, then you're _destined_ for each other.' I stressed on the word "destined". It is a cheap word, but it works.

'D-destiny?' He was slightly interested.

Another two steps forward. He shifted back two steps. Still with a smile, I replied composedly, 'Like I said, destiny.'

'Stop creeping towards me!' he broke into a scowl. In his eyes I could see fear. 'You're making me feel uncomfortable!'

I couldn't help but laugh. He reminded me so much of Francis as of the time. I took a few steps forward. It must be something like this, or else he would dismissed it as some sort of prank. He took a few steps backwards. We continued this shifting game until he reached a wall. He peered over his shoulders after he had frightened himself with a wall, then turned back to me, scared stiff. I lifted my umbrella and pointed the other end at him. 'You can't resist your destiny. Look for your soulmate because she's closer than you think.' Satisfied, I lowered my umbrella and took a step backwards, then bowed. 'Now, please excuse me.' I turned around and quickly left the room.

'H-hey! What do you mean by that?' he called out from behind, but I pretended I couldn't hear him. I closed the door, but left a gap open. Mir and I peered through the gap, its head rested on mine. It felt heavy. I could hear him speaking to himself, 'What was that knucklehead talking about?' Then he muttered something, his expression bewildered while looking at the floor.

 _Master, he was mumbling "Destiny",_ Mir kindly informed me. _It seems that it works! Though, I must say, from an outside point of view…_

Hmm?

 _If you haven't said the female terms, it would look like you were desperate to get his attention. You know, like the books Francis recommended to us about those girls who were trying to get the attention of… uh… cent… sent…sank…san… what was it?_

I scowled at the invisible dragon. What the heck, Mir. There were no such things in that conversation. Well, maybe the creeping towards him thing was a little too much, but for a thickheaded person like Magnus, it is required. For now, we have successfully gotten the attention of one of the targets. He didn't dismiss me completely, fortunate for me, and turned out to be more gullible than I think. Ms. Hilla would be a tough one. Though, more or less, I know what I should start out to get her attention to my words. I left the school, waiting for the next day to come to execute my next move.

During first recess, I politely rejected Hawkeye's invitation for some "secret meeting" and went to the infirmary by myself. The rest gave me a look, but said nothing about it. Perhaps they believe I could handle this all by myself, as I have usually do. I don't know if the plan would work as well as I think. I took a deep breath in, and opened the door. She was sitting by her desk, carefully sipping her cup of coffee, another hand holding some sort of women's magazine. She placed her cup down and noticed me standing at the door. 'Oh, you.' I nodded and came inside. I was somewhat glad that she remembered me. 'Didn't you come to me with a sprained ankle last time? Did you get hurt during PE again?' She asked, slightly concerned, though her eyes were still glued to the magazine.

'No.' I shook my head, but I doubted she saw it. I don't have classes with Mr. Magnus today. 'I must have eaten breakfast too quickly because I have a heartburn.'

'Do you?' she muttered, glancing at me. I feigned to be hurt. 'All right, there's iodine in the cabinet over there,' she pointed at the cabinet she had once showed me before. 'Put it on where it hurts.'

'Yes, Ms. Hilla.' I remember perfectly that inside it were bottles of liquid iodine. Does she expect me to swallow them, or apply them on the skin where it wouldn't help at all with heartburns? Regardless, I pretended to be sick and stopped in front of the cabinet. I should start showering her with praises. Phantom would be great on the job. 'May I ask how old you are, Ms. Hilla? Are you in your early 20s?'

I looked at her to see her expression. A bright smile took over her face. It never cease to amuse me how words could change a person's expression in an instant. She chuckled. 'Oh, you flattered me,' she replied, her eyes now fixated at me. 'I'm not so young. I'll be thirty in a few years. Ho ho ho!' She pulled out a drawer from the side of her table and pulled out a bottle filled with pills, then placed it on the table. 'Oh here, take this antacid instead.' I believe that pills would actually cure someone, rather than her "all-cure" iodine she has all over the room.

Also, she definitely flattered herself. I'd believe if she said that she would turn 40 in a few years. Although, I must say, through pixels, I can't exactly tell her age due to the pixelated figure of hers. Through the power of make-up, she managed to conceal them, making her looking younger than she really is (I would've believe that she is 20 if I haven't overheard a conversation from the students that Hilla is still unmarried even though she's over 30). 'Oh, who knew?' I pretended to be surprised at her reveal. 'I thought you were one of the students all this time! You must be the youngest among all the teachers, with Mr. Magnus next.'

Upon mentioning the traitor's name, her expression changed back to normal. 'M-maybe…' she muttered, feigning disinterest. Looks like I managed to get her to notice Mr. Magnus's existence without spoiling her mood.

I took a pill from the antacid bottle and swallowed it. Surely one pill wouldn't greatly damage me. Then, I muttered the dialog that popped out to me, loud enough for her to hear me, 'Men and women are good for each other when they are four years apart, and they are perfect husbands and wives when they're three years apart…' I trailed off, mumbling something nonsense. The dialogue that popped out for me was something I have not thought of. Rhinne blessed me. Everything on there were utter nonsense as well, to be frank. Maybe she would be gullible as well?

'Huh?' she asked.

'Nothing. Ha ha,' I looked at her, pretending the previous statements to be nonsensical. I turned around to leave. Two steps later I realized I haven't thanked her yet, so I turned around. 'The antacid seemed to be working. I'd better go now. Thank you.'

'S-sure…' she raised an eyebrow at my purposely-horrible cover up. 'Take it easy.'

'Oh, did you know? Mr. Magnus is three years apart from you.'

She frowned. 'H-huh? Is that so?'

The dialogue box given to me was utter nonsense with further insisting about the "three years apart" thing. I guess it's better to emphasize it, since I've said something about it. 'It's rather interesting. You see, my parents were three years apart from each other as well. My cousin, too, is engaged to a man who is three years older than her.'

Hilla dropped the magazine to her lap and frowned deeper. She must be wondering, "What is this kid saying?"

'Goodbye, Ms. Hilla,' I smiled and waved at her, then exited the room. Like with Mr. Magnus, I hid beside the door to listen to her reaction from it.

'He really is sick… Hm…'

 _Master, I think you ought to stop doing what the codes are telling you to do. Some of these things are ridiculous._

Weird things tend to get people's mind on them. It might be just this time, anyway. I, too, find the codes interesting and effective to carry out.

Hawkeye and the rest of the group was heading upstairs as I was going down. 'Great timing,' he said with a grin. 'Let's go up.' I assumed that they weren't having any meetings beforehand and came up to get a breather. When everyone entered, Hawkeye closed the door behind him and asked me, 'Where have you been? We're together in this, man!'

'Trying to get Mr. Magnus and Ms. Hilla together, as we agreed on.'

'You've got a plan?' Mihile frowned.

'Irena gave me a hint,' I replied.

'Irena?' Hawkeye sighed, scratching the back of his head. 'Why did you tell her?'

'What was it?' Nineheart asked.

'She said that if others keep on setting them up, they might ponder over the possibilities,' I said. 'So I did. I told Mr. Magnus about his destiny is in the school, and to Ms. Hilla that men and women are perfect as husbands and wives when they are three years apart.'

Nineheart frowned at me. Francis and Hawkeye were equally speechless. Mihile laughed at my words. 'Destiny? Husbands and wives when they're three years apart? Do the teachers really believe in such crap?'

'They seemed to be affected after my words, so I supposed, yes.'

'You really have a knack for lying,' Nineheart sighed. 'Certainly that alone isn't enough to make them notice each other.'

'Of course,' I nodded at him. 'It's time for us to solidify what we've been working on.'

'Solidify?' Mihile asked.

'Yeah!' Hawkeye agreed. 'Great job, Evan!' He turned towards Nineheart. 'So… what's next?' Others shifted their attention to the blue-haired strategist. He glanced at the group in return.

'Perhaps it is time for them to listen to the public's opinion.'

'But how?' Francis asked. 'Everything we have tried before weren't effective to them.'

'I don't know how this is going to work,' I said. They looked at me. 'I've asked Orchid about them, but she don't know who Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus at all. Maybe you can start from there.'

'Really?' Hawkeye was surprised. 'Hey, I've got an idea!'

He then gave a few lines for everyone else on the rooftop except Francis. The hooded teenager seemed eager to try the plan out nevertheless, even though he would be just standing around them. The three of them practiced their lines (with Nineheart being reluctant to say the lines, to the point Hawkeye only gave him one line because of it) until the bell rang. The things they say is equally ridiculous as what I had just spouted to Hilla and Magnus, just wait for it. 'This might work,' Mihile nodded before parting ways.

Lunch break. As we had lunch in the cafeteria, Nineheart told us that Cygnus had called Hilla out so both Magnus and Hilla would cross each other as they did the silly act after this. Halfway through lunch break, the act begins. Nineheart told the others to gather around the entrance of the hallway, so the targets would intersect. I stood by my classroom, awaiting for the show. Hilla walk past me, and I saw her glancing at me briefly before looking forward. There were several students around, wondering why the shady group gathered around. Some girls were gossiping about how it was a "rare opportunity" for Hawkeye, Mihile and Nineheart together at the same time, and Francis's presence "ruined" the "good moment". I didn't understand a word from their conversation.

Hawkeye seemed to be whispering something to the rest of the group shortly before Magnus and Hilla were in range. 'Did you hear that?' Mihile began when both of them were around, speaking rather loudly. 'You know, Orchid never forgets the faces of people she's met.'

'I do,' Hawkeye was slightly awkward. 'She never forgets.'

'But even she can't remember Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus,' Mihile replied with a frown. Both teachers stopped by briefly, taken aback by his statement.

'Whoa, that's mysterious!' Hawkeye finally got the act together.

The trio turned at him. Nineheart was off for a few seconds before he said monotonously, 'That must be _destiny_.'

As they walked past each other, the others glanced at their reaction. Hilla stopped after passing and peered over her shoulders momentarily before quickly moving towards Cygnus's office. Magnus did the same, shortly after her departure, getting a glimpse of her white coat before it disappeared into the room. Hawkeye giggled after Magnus left. I approached them.

'Did you see?' he grinned. 'They're aware of each other! Finally, there's some chemistry between the two!'

'The act we put on worked!' Mihile was shocked. He added quietly, 'Maybe we should join the theater club…'

'Why am I not given a single line?' Francis looked at Hawkeye sadly.

Nineheart finally removed his composed look from his face as he covered his eyes with his left hand. 'Don't ask me to do this _ever_ again.'

I laughed. 'All it matters is that it worked.'

We gathered at the rooftop once more afterwards. 'Agent Nineheart, please brief on our next strategy,' Francis asked. He seemed to be very eager to finish this. Perhaps it was the drive to get Orchid together. I'm surprised that no one asked of him regarding Orchid. Didn't he mentioned earlier that he had asked Orchid about them, and somehow had gotten information out of her? I don't think Orchid has any reason to lie to me, nor she would benefit out of it. Am I the only one who remembers this?

 _Perhaps so, master. Knowing you…_

I feel somewhat betrayed.

Nineheart let out a heavy sigh after the act. 'Now it's time for some accident to occur. According to some research, people fall in love easily with those whom they face danger together because their bodies mistaken the beating of their hearts from nervousness as the signs of love.' I frowned at him. What sort of "research" has he been doing? Is he that desperate to get Hilla and Magnus together? Or he has other plans (for an example, Cygnus)?

'So?' I asked. I must admit, that is some weird research.

'We need to send Mr. Magnus to the infirmary. He needs to be in the same place with Ms. Hilla. The question is how we're going to do that.' Nineheart looked at us for some suggestions.

'Can't we send Ms. Hilla to the field instead?' Francis asked timidly.

Mihile shook his head. 'She doesn't seem to like sun that much. It might be plausible to send Mr. Magnus to the infirmary instead. Problem is, that's not going to be easy. The P.E. teacher caught a cold for the first time in his life because of the cold virus we have planted. He's so healthy, to the point where he has no reason to visit the infirmary.'

'The infirmary is a smaller place to trap them into,' Hawkeye nodded. 'It is a better location than the field. Anyone have ideas?'

Francis chuckled. 'I can use black magic to…'

I cut him off. 'Then we'll have to knock him down.' I highly doubted that Francis practices what he calls as "black magic". It is unsafe.

'You seem to have a plan, Evan. Go for it!' Hawkeye gave some moral support. 'He should be at the front gate after school. Try to get him at then.'

'We're counting on you!' Mihile gave me a thumbs-up.

'Good luck,' Nineheart spoke, as if I needed it. Judging from his tone, it should be nearly impossible to do so. How strong could Seoul's Magnus be? I don't think he has a lot of health, or even has a health bar.

'H-how about my suggestion?' Francis asked sheepishly. No one replied to him. Then, we left the rooftop and returned to our classrooms. Francis looked a little down due to being casted away from the others. I've decided to cheer him up a bit when the second years entered their classroom.

'Francis, if my plan were to fail, can I use your "black magic" to get Mr. Magnus to the infirmary?'

'That's not going to happen, is it?' Francis muttered. 'Everything you do… it will go smoothly. You wouldn't need my help, friend.'

'Don't word it so. I'm not God – surely there's a time where I will fail,' I replied. 'Mr. Magnus seems tough… I'm not quite sure if I could even knock him down on my own.'

'You are strong too, Evan. You knocked me down in one swing.'

I've almost forgotten about that. I'm not too fond of that memory. 'Preferably I wouldn't resort to such a method. Nineheart would give me detention if I were to flat out attack him.'

He had a thought about it.

Before we enter our classroom, I added, 'If we were to work together, surely there isn't anything that we can't do. You want to be with Orchid as soon as possible, right?'

He turned around and nodded. 'I'll… make a potion as a backup plan. I'll call you when it's ready, if your plan failed.'

I smiled. He's back in the plan again. In the class was Mr. Spiegelmann. He wanted us to draw something again, this time the scenery on the rooftop. Each of us picked our own location to draw. I peered down. Magnus was on the field, coaching the soccer club members as he stood aside, yelling something unclear to me. A random soccer ball flew towards his head by accident from one of the members, but it seemed like he was unfazed even after he was hit. This man is equally strong as the clone in Maple World.

 _Master, is he even human? He took that flying ball to the head, and he still reacted as if it didn't happen!_

Now, if I were to multiply that number, perhaps…


	20. Chapter 17 (FS Chapter 3)

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. This chapter had been going on for quite a bit, isn't it? It seems that I've written too much additional information, and I have intended to end at this chapter, but it seems that it had went over 8,000 words, so I've decided to separate some parts into another chapter. Hopefully, by the end of this week, I am able to deliver both Chapter 18 and the extra (where you will know more about my current situation). In the mean time, please enjoy the story.

* * *

As aforementioned, Magnus stood at the front gate after school. I went ahead and greeted him. 'Hello, Mr. Magnus,' I smiled.

He took a step back instinctively. 'Uh… It's you again.'

The codes told me to warn him, but I'm not that nice to do so. 'Can you wait for a moment here? I need to get something.'

He frowned. A brief pause later, he replied, 'Sure.'

Velderoth and several other soccer club members were pushing out many carts full of soccer balls. I approached Velderoth, since he was the only person I know the name of; most other students seemed to be "Male Student" or "Female Student" in my eyes. It seemed to be a set thing. 'Yes?' Velderoth said when he realized me standing beside him.

'Can I borrow some soccer balls? I would like to train myself in soccer.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Sure. How many?'

'About 100, if you may.'

He wanted to question more, but he nodded at my request and gave me two soccer ball carts. 'There's about one hundred there. Remember to return it before five o'clock.'

I nodded in acknowledgment. I would've returned them before the time comes. I pushed the carts by myself and hid in the small garden by the building entrance, kept tidy by the gardening club members, who were not around for the day. Carefully I found a place where I could see Magnus and hide when he notices where the balls were fired, while avoiding all the saplings on the ground. I couldn't use magic at this area (which is a shame) or I would be found in an instant, and terrify them. Unfortunately, I don't have too much STR for power and DEX for accuracy on hitting Magnus with these checkered-colored balls. There is, however, a crosshair for me to hit properly. Seems like some sort of mini-game from Maple World. A timer flashed above me.

One hundred balls in one minute. I won't be able to hit that much, I believe. Well, I hope that ten balls is enough to knock him out of commission.

 _Master, need some help?_ Mir asked.

Well, if you would send me the balls right after I whack them with my umbrella-staff, that would be nice…

The timer started counting down. The first ball rolled by my umbrella and I aimed the crosshair at Magnus's head. I raised my umbrella to a suitable height before swinging downwards. Here goes nothing!

First ball, a headshot. I cheered silently at my first successful shot. Magnus's head was pushed backwards slightly, but he didn't flinch at all. He started looking around with a frown.

 _Oh Rhinne! He didn't even fall!_

Another ball bumped into my umbrella. I shot the ball to where to crosshair points. It was a little too weak and it landed on his torso instead. He winced, but he didn't seem to back down. He looked around attentively, knowing that this isn't a joke.

For the rest of the 50 seconds, I was desperate to make him fall. I have probably shot over 50 balls that hit him either the head or his torso, but this is as hard as killing Magnus clone on Normal mode, solo. The timer eventually ran out, and I noticed I have 25 balls left. Great. 75 balls and he's still standing, as if nothing had ever happened in that one minute. Magnus seemed to found out where the balls were fired, so I ran away by climbing onto one of the trees, and Mir flew up to avoid contact with the furious P.E. teacher wielding a long, wooden ruler running towards our direction.

'Where the hell are you?!' the teacher roared as I sat in between the two branches that formed a 'V', looking down as he walked near the tree. 'If I catch you, I'll make you run a hundred laps around the schoolyard, doing squats!'

It was then I hoped I have a spare invisible potion, just in case he looked up from where he stood. For a brief moment (that felt like a long time) he merely stood there, looking around the garden for any shadows or footprints. Fortunately for me, he didn't. I sighed in relief as he walked away with a deep scowl on his face. Velderoth was then questioned on to whom he had lent the balls. Somehow he caught a glimpse of me on the tree while I observed them, and I gestured to him, pleading so he would keep quiet about me. He raised an eyebrow, but quickly returned to his normal expression, and lied to Magnus that no one had borrowed them. Magnus scowled at him, but didn't question him any further.

Magnus then called the rest of the team to the field as Velderoth merely stood near the entrance. I came down from the tree and walked towards him. 'Sorry, and thank you,' I smiled. 'There was… something I needed to do.'

'Huh? Oh, don't worry about it,' he laughed. 'Hawkeye told me all about it in class.'

'You knew?' I said, surprised.

He grinned. 'It sounded interesting to pair the two worst opponents together, and I'd like to try playing the game too, you know.'

'Game?' What is he talking about?

'Don't play stupid. The game of love, of course. See you.' He waved and ran towards the field.

Mir landed beside me, creating a short-lived breeze. _Master, what did he meant about "the game of love"?_

I shook my head alone. 'I have no idea,' I muttered. I pulled out my phone, ready to call Francis when I realized I've received several text messages. First message was from Mihile, "Huehuehue I saw everything", followed by Eckhart's "lolol watcha' doin" and Hawkeye's "LOL omg soccer so fun". How the three of them noticed me from the garden? My gut feeling told me to look up, so I did. Hawkeye, Eckhart and Mihile were on the rooftop, the three of them waving while grinning ear to ear at me. I looked back at my phone and replied to the three of them, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

I looked up to see their reaction when they see the message. They broke into laughter so loudly I could hear them from down here, Hawkeye's voice being the loudest of them all. Francis called me when I entered the building, perhaps knowing my failure from the laughter of the three male Chief Cygnus Knights from the rooftop. He started chuckling when I picked up his call. 'Foolish human, I –'

This again? 'I'm hanging up.'

'Hey, hey, wait!' he was flustered. 'Don't hang up before I've finished talking! That's the number one rule of anime and manga!'

I sighed. It is true that manga characters tend to speak their plan, and somehow their opponents would listen it to the very end. 'Sorry to break it to you, but this is no anime, nor manga. Oh, and here I thought it was the Demon King, but I hear a human talking instead. I wonder…'

He chuckled again. 'Now that you know who I am, I'll have to kill –'

'I'm hanging up.'

'Alright, alright! I give up!' Francis replied swiftly. 'Captain told me to tell you to report to him when the task is done, but I hear him laughing from above. Just to make sure, did you accomplish your mission?'

'No,' I scratched the back of my head. 'I've hit him with as many soccer balls I could before he found me, but he seems unfazed by it. Looks like brute force isn't going to work. How about you?'

'It's time for this Francis to step in then,' he replied gleefully. 'Come to the science lab on the 3rd floor. I'll show you my expertise in alchemy.' Does Seoul's alchemy recipes varies from Maple World's alchemy? I certainly hope that he doesn't start exploding things, for chemicals are hard to get down at some point, depending on experience and equipment.

'Alright.' I hung up and got to the third floor. There was a subtle explosive sound when I reached the floor, and my mind quickly thought of the worst case scenario. My legs moved swiftly towards the lab. My hands reached out to the handle when it was in range, and I pushed it open. A weird smell came out from the room and I coughed, covering my nose with my other hand. Francis laid on the ground, not moving. Elwin was nearby, coughing at the pungent smell in the laboratory. Nothing seemed to be catching fire, which was good. Mir flapped its wings, ventilating the place. The windows were coincidentally opened, aiding the dragon to do its job.

'You came,' Elwin noticed me, still coughing, but not as severe as before. 'Hey, look at him – he tried to make something, and the next thing you know, _boom!_ He ended up like this.'

'What happened?' I quickly entered the room and checked on Francis's condition. He still have a pulse.

'I've no idea. I heard a loud bang and the next thing I know it, I found him lying unconscious on the ground,' Elwin shook his head. 'He should be coming to his senses very soon. But for now, we have to deal with the Dusts.' The brown puppy turned towards the Dust Zone at the end of the lab. 'They are agitated by the loud bang. Can you take care of them?'

I took one last glance at Francis on the ground and nodded at Barrier Master. Mir seemed to have entered as it informed its presence by nudging me on the back, and we entered the Dust Zone. As usual, the timer started counting down from ten minutes, but I couldn't help but wonder how "soon" Francis would be awake. 'Master, Elwin mentioned that Francis would be awaken soon, right?' the dragon seemed to read my mind and asked that. 'What if he woke up before the ten minute mark is up?'

I blinked at him. 'Well…'

We nodded at each other in acknowledgement and started spamming all available Area of Effect skills (Mir only has one, but I have three). As a result, we killed almost half of the requirement kills, leaving 50 Dusts still roaming on their spots, surprised at how fast their comrades were finished. I drank Mana Bull to replenish my severely drained mana bar. Mir took the bottom lane while I teleported to the top lane so we would complete our mission quickly – at least, before Francis would wake up.

We got out as soon as the last Dust vanished into thin air, and Elwin had surprise written all over his face as we stepped out of the portal. 'That was fast,' he blurted out. 'Did you take care of _all_ ninety of the Dusts?' I nodded. 'Good job. Dusts should be taken care of before they turned into Troublemakers.' Francis's finger twitched slightly. Elwin noticed it before we do. 'Oh, I think he's waking up!' he whispered to us, then proceeded to maintain his cover by barking like a dog and ran out of the room.

 _Phew. It's a good thing that we finished killing 90 Dusts before he woke up, right, Master?_

I nodded at the thin air. Nudging Francis's face with the other end of my umbrella-staff, I called out to him. 'Hey, wake up!'

'Aww, mom…' he muttered. 'Give me five more minutes… I don't have to eat breakfast…'

I nudged him harder. 'This isn't your home – wake up!'

'H-huh?' he got up from the ground in a daze. 'W-why am I in the science lab?' He noticed me and started cackling. I suspected he isn't awake yet. 'I see… so you've summoned me, human.' I knew it. 'Are you aware of the price you must pay for summoning the Demon King? Bring me a sacrifice.'

'How about a whack across the face as a price?' I asked, pointing the umbrella at him.

He immediately took two steps backwards, chuckling nervously. 'I-I'm just joking, Evan. Don't take everything so seriously.'

'You said you made a potion. Are you sure you can knock Mr. Magnus out with what you made?'

He nodded and pointed at a conical flask filled with oddly purple liquid placed on the table nearby. 'It's a potion made from my alchemical knowledge. It can even bring down a dragon.'

I glanced at the dragon standing beside me, which was invisible to his eyes. Mir shuddered at his words. It noticed me looking at it. _M-master, don't you even dare…_

'Really?' I mumbled and headed towards the flask. A short description was given to the apparatus. "A lab apparatus, bearing signs of some violent experiment." There was an empty plastic water bottle conveniently placed by it. I glanced at Francis. He had a fishy look on his face, his hands rubbing against each other, as if he was plotting some evil plan. I poured the liquid into the conveniently placed plastic bottle. The liquid's dangerous-smelling smell reeked the room. I doubted Magnus would ever drink such a suspicious-looking liquid. I closed the bottle with its cap and lifted the bottle up. The deep purple liquid was kept inside, looking dangerous as a liquid could.

There was a description for it, too. It was named "Mysterious Potion. "A mysterious potion formulated by Francis. According to him, this could knock down dragons."

'Let's just hope Mag- I mean, Mr. Magnus would drink it to let its effect shown,' I said.

He nodded with a smile. I left the room afterwards. As we headed to the stairs, I couldn't help but feel curious. What would happen if Mir were to drink it? _Master, I couldn't help but feel chilly. Surely you don't have any dangerous thoughts right now?_ Mir asked sheepishly.

I grinned. A mere expression change shocked the dragon to steer clear away from me. Its presence had moved from my side to the science lab entrance in less than 3 seconds. I chuckled at its overreaction and headed down the stairs. If Mir were to be knocked out as mentioned by Francis, it would be a pain to drag its huge body back to Prefect's house. I don't have enough STR added to do such a thing.

The soccer team were having a break. Mr. Magnus stood at the entrance, drinking his energy drink from his sports bottle. 'Mr. Magnus!' I called out to him. He almost spat out his drink upon hearing my voice, resulting in choking.

He turned around, his expression wry. 'Hmph, it's _you_ again. What do you want?' He acted tough, but I could see through that cheap act.

I took a few steps forward. 'Well, I understand that I've been giving you a hard time recently…'

'I'm glad that you know. What are you up to now?'

'So I've brought you this energy drink for you, as an apology.' I gave him the Mysterious Potion. He eyed me suspiciously, glancing back and forth from my smile and the bottle. 'It's grape flavor, don't worry,' I added. He took the bottle and his hesitation vanished.

'This reminds me there are still good students these days,' he muttered. 'Thank you. All right then…' he started drinking it. Surprisingly, while he was drinking, he didn't throw up at all, or complain how disgusting it is. The smell of it is utterly _terrible_. I applaud Magnus for swallowing every drop of the disgusting-smelled drink. Then, he headed towards the field. Five steps later, he fell to the ground. I started to wonder what was in that drink that worked its magic instantly.

Velderoth noticed him lying on the grass. 'What happened?' he asked me, and then looked at Magnus again.

'He just collapsed all of a sudden. Can you help me to carry him to the infirmary?' I have to admit, I don't think I have enough STR to carry this well-built man. Even Francis wasn't easy to move. Velderoth nodded at me, and with him on the left, and me on the right, both of us carried the P.E. teacher up the stairs to the fourth floor.

'What happened to the iron man?' Hilla looked surprised at his appearance as we brought Magnus towards one of the empty beds. 'I thought he could survive everything.'

Velderoth glanced at me after we had put him down. Looks like it's up to me. 'Well… I think he passed out from heatstroke. The weather has been really hot these days, with summer coming, you know?'

Hilla glanced at Magnus. 'Hmmm….'

The both of us left the infirmary. 'Thanks, Velderoth,' I smiled. 'Will you be okay without him?' Suddenly I felt bad for the soccer team.

'Don't worry,' he gently hit the left side of his chest. 'Even without Mr. Magnus, the soccer team will shine for the summer tournament! We've been training hard for this moment!'

'Good luck.'

He beamed. 'Good luck to you, too.' Then he headed down the stairs.

I called Nineheart on the stairs, just in case Hilla would hear my conversation while I was speaking outside. 'What next? I got Mr. Magnus and Ms. Hilla together now.'

Nineheart sounded pleased. 'Good job, Evan. Our next step is to lock both of them inside the room so the current atmosphere wouldn't be ruined. The keys to the infirmary door is in the first row locker, second from the left. After you have padlocked them, dump the keys somewhere unexpected, and head to the circuit breaker on the rooftop. It is usually off-limits, but I'll make an exception this time. Meet me at my office when you are done.'

I hung up and followed his orders. There were random rows of lockers placed outside of all the rooms in the school, but the weirdest placement would be this row of lockers, placed right outside the infirmary. Honestly, who would use them, apart of Hilla herself? The second locker at the first row wasn't locked, and inside were a pair of keys on a round, silver ring, and a red plastic thing that says "Infirmary Key" on it. I took the keys, closed the locker door, and locked the infirmary door by padlocking it.

I headed towards the rooftop afterwards. The circuit breaker was placed directly beside the door. It was usually locked with a plastic cover, but today, the plastic cover was unlocked. I flipped it open and pulled the circuit breaker down. With this one move, the electrical supply to the whole school is cut off. My next destination was to Cygnus's office. I still had the key around with me, so I tossed it out from the rooftop to the courtyard to prevent anyone else from breaking the mood by accident, then proceeded to teleport down.

"Did you padlocked the infirmary?" was the first thing Nineheart asked when I entered. The room was warm, even with the breeze from outside. The others were there too. Summer is definitely coming.

'Of course,' I closed the door behind me. 'I tossed the key somewhere in the courtyard. But are you sure this will work? Locking the door and cutting the supply doesn't seem like a good plan to bring them close.'

'I agree with Evan. It doesn't seem like a good plan,' Mihile said, fanning himself with his left hand. 'Sheesh, it is _hot_ in here.'

Nineheart crossed his arms. 'If you're dubious, we can check the CCTV in the infirmary. The screen might be off due to the power cut, but we could at least hear what's going on inside.'

I frowned. 'Check the what?' Nineheart pulled out a foldable computer and did something to it. A black screen appeared on it.

'CCTV,' Hawkeye blinked at me. 'Closed-circuit television, ring a bell?'

'Oh. So the power did ran out,' Hilla's voice came out from the foldable computer. If they are able to see what's in this room from here (when the power is up), does the CCTV worked like Patrol Robots, except the fact that they don't move? I don't think I've ever seen anything moving here, and Mir would've tried to chase after it. There was someone whimpering in the background. The voice was too deep to be Hilla's voice. Well, this took a turn.

'Mr. Magnus,' Hilla's voice was firm. You can hear that she was annoyed.

'I-I'm… s-s-s…' Magnus stuttered.

'Excuse me?'

'I-I'm s-scared… I'm scared!' Magnus wailed. 'I'm scared senseless!'

'Well,' Hawkeye spoke abruptly. 'Didn't know Mr. Magnus had a weak point.' After his sentence, Mihile and Francis drowned him with shushes.

'Oh come on,' Hilla sighed. 'You'd better man up. It's just a temporary blackout. The power will be back on before you know it. Just hang in there.'

'Ugh…' Magnus reduced to wailing again.

A minute later, Hilla couldn't stand him any longer. She burst into anger. 'Good God, stop making so much noise!' I would be acting the same too, if someone were to make irritating noises like that. However, something else happened. There were subtle sounds of cloth shifting at the background. With the power still down, we weren't sure what was happening. I glanced at Nineheart. He had the most serious look on his face I've ever seen. Interlocked hands of his leaned against the small space between his nose and lips. What's gotten into him?

'Ms. Hilla?' Magnus blurted out, confused.

'I'll stay with you, but only until the power is back, so stop crying. You're driving me crazy.' Magnus sniffed.

'They're in the right mood!' Hawkeye rubbed his hands gleefully, very similar to the villain characters portrayed in manga. 'Now our enemies have been incapacitated. One last blow, and they'll be done for! So, Agent Nineheart, what do you think of our next move will be?'

'There's only one thing left: proposal,' said the strategist. I coughed. What we had accomplished a moment ago and his suggestion are in completely different levels! Is he serious?

'C-confession?' Mihile was oddly embarrassed. 'Are you saying that this ridiculous plan has really worked?'

'It's too early to say,' Nineheart shook his head. 'Most women don't want to go into a deeper relationship with men unless they're proposed properly, even if those men have sent countless signals.'

'But what about Orchid?' Francis was worried. 'I proposed proper-'

'What's a proper proposal?' Mihile's question had accidentally cut Francis's sentence off. I guess it's his life now – getting ignored.

Nineheart cleared his throat. 'A proper confession consists of three elements: a romantic place, romantic music, and a romantic event. We first need to find an ideal place for a romantic confession.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' I took a few steps back with my hands raised from the planning men who were taking this seriously (all but Francis who was hurt to realize his confession wasn't a "proper confession" mentioned by Nineheart). 'Now you guys are going way _too_ far away from track. This is _very_ ridiculous, don't you think? What makes you think Mr. Magnus would _confess_?'

But Hawkeye wasn't listening. He was pretty enthusiastic to end this plan well to return as a participant in the game of love. 'Did you hear that, agents? Scatter and look for an ideal place for a romantic proposal!' He glanced at all of us. Then, pointing at each of us according to names, he started giving out orders. 'Agent Mihile and I will check the school grounds. Agent Nineheart and Francis, check the surrounding of the school. Agent Evan, search everywhere else, including remote places. The future of the school rests on your _shoulders_ , agents! Now, off you go!'

Isn't it supposed to be "rest in your hands"? It surprised me how both Mihile and Nineheart didn't say a word about it. Somehow everyone agreed on the plan without any objection, and it made the doll lover's passion for love returned. 'Off we go!' he echoed, mimicking Hawkeye's tone. Everyone else took off on their own a moment later, leaving me standing alone in the office. I sighed alone.

Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen Cygnus recently. Where would she be? Is she still saddened from what I said?

 _Master, this plan seemed to move quickly than before. Should we leave before anything bad happens?_ Mir asked.

No, we are too far into it to leave. We should just stay and let the future unfolds, no matter if the plan succeeds at the end, or not.

Nineheart left the folded computer on the table, the sounds coming from the infirmary were still sent to the computer. All of a sudden the lights came on in the infirmary. Magnus looked pale, sitting on the sick bed, while Hilla was holding his hand, sitting on a stool by him. Her make-up were almost gone due to the warmness of the school earlier. Did someone else noticed this? Then, something seemed to be unlocked at the infirmary. Hilla and Magnus turned towards the door, their hands now away from each other. However, no one came in. Weird. Who could it be?

No matter. I needed to search for a romantic place. Mir and I left the school building, heading towards the magic bus, hoping the places it brings me to will carry the answer we need. My first stop was at the Sunset Yard, the furthest area of where the bus brings.

Now, I am no expert on this "romantic" genre, but with one glance on the desolated, almost barren playground that even most kids don't dare to go, I don't think it's suitable for the plan. Upon a further inspection I noticed Orchid was there, sitting on a swing alone. I carefully avoided her line of vision. It seemed to be a quiet place to go when you want to be alone (like Orchid) or picking up a fight with someone else. I checked it off my imaginary list and took the bus to Drizzle Trail.

The eternal question of the weather in Drizzle Trail puzzles me. I've asked around off the story, and they told me some scientist had created an artificial cloud by accident on that trail, and they changed the name into Drizzle Trail. What the name was before that, no one seemed to remember. I stood in the middle of the trail, looking around while being under my red umbrella. Several couples were taking a stroll in the area. It looks decent as a romantic place - with the existent of the couples around – but I feel that the place isn't suitable for a "confession". If the next place isn't suitable, I guess this would be where it takes place.

My next stop was Fountain Park, a ten-minute walk from Shinsoo International School. A fountain with a marble statue of a cupid inside a small heart-shaped arch stood in the middle of the park. I looked around. There were a few people walking around. Helena was patrolling nearby and noticed me. I smiled at her. She nodded at me and continued her patrols. Perhaps this fountain would be helpful for the "confession". I still can't believe that they're bringing this so fast. It was only a week when we started this ridiculous plan and it surprisingly _worked_.

 _Master, we should tell the rest of the crew about this place. Aren't you excited on what might befall Magnus and Hilla? Will they end up together? Or their relationship loosened? Doesn't the suspense intrigue you?_ Mir had fallen too deep into the plan. I cringed upon its excitement about the event.

Hawkeye called me as I was about to get onto the magical bus. 'This is Eagle, this is Eagle. Report your situation, over!'

What is he trying to pull? 'I'm at Fountain Park,' I replied. 'I think this is a suitable place to make a confession. Check it out.'

'Outstanding, Agent Evan!' he replied cheerfully. 'We'll move our targets to the Fountain Park.' His voice became vague, perhaps moving away from the phone. 'All agents, move quickly! Our next battlefield is the Fountain Park!'

I heard Nineheart's subtle voice from the phone. I barely made out the words he said. 'It's late. We should continue this tomorrow.'

'I agree with Nineheart. Someone spoiled the mood and turned the power on. What's the rush?' Mihile spoke, his voice vague.

Hawkeye returned to the phone. 'We'll have a meeting at The Corn. We'll be planning for our battlefield in Fountain Park tomorrow morning. Copy that, Agent Evan?'

'What's the rush?' I repeated after Mihile.

'Don't ask so much – just go! We'll be there in a jiffy.'

'Surely a game of love could wait a day or two. No wonder you're always ended up being dumped - you're hasty, Hawkeye.'

He hissed, 'Who told you that? Is it Mihile?'

I imagined Mihile must be silently cursing me for bringing him up. 'No, just from my observation that your partner seemed to change every few days.'

Hawkeye hung up after a brief pause. I chuckled at his response and headed towards The Corn, the misleading name for an ice-cream shop. I asked for a mint ice cream as I wait. When they arrived, they started discussing on luring them to Fountain Park. I'm going to leave it to you guys about what they were saying, as I wasn't paying much attention to them. While they were discussing things, I feel somewhat uncomfortable, as if someone was trying to tear into something personal of mine. Of course, no one here could do this. This could only mean something happened that Mir knows in Maple World (most possibly regarding Afrien). Something was bugging its mind, but it blocked me off when I tried to peek into its mind.

The next morning, the four of us decided to skip the early classes. Nineheart was the leader of this operation for once (actually he had been before, but Hawkeye often insisted that he was the captain instead). 'I'll head to school to making fake announcements to our targets, so they would shift over to Fountain Park,' he said before parting ways with us. 'In the meantime, get things done. I will contact you after my announcement.' So, Mihile, Francis, Hawkeye and I took the magic bus to Fountain Park and started our preparation. Francis was in charge of the songs, and he had left his laptop back at home, so he had to rush back for the matter.

Hawkeye gave me four small speakers. 'Place it where the songs could be heard, but not be seen by them,' he said, putting them into my hands. I stared at the speakers for a few, fearing that they would suddenly move like in Kerning Square. I snapped out of my thoughts as Hawkeye slapped my back, urging me to hurry. Mihile told me how the spot was structured – neatly trimmed bushes surrounded the fountain, which was placed at the center of the crossroad junction. I placed one speaker at each bush in between two roads. I noticed that they don't have wires.

'How would they work if they don't have them?' I asked Mihile. At the corner of my eye, I saw Hawkeye sitting behind the bus stop.

He chuckled. 'They are wireless speakers. Haven't you heard of them? They can be automatically connected via Bluetooth to a computer, laptop, or phone. They can be pretty handy.'

The Bluetooth thing is quite handy, too. It could send images from one phone to another _and_ connect a speaker to electronic devices too? That is something you can't find in Maple World.

Someone's phone rang. Mihile and I looked at each other, wondering if it was each other's phone ringing, but it was later picked up. 'Hello?' Hawkeye said. A pause later, a smirk formed on his face. 'Got it. We're done here, too.'

'Ready?' Mihile scowled. 'Francis isn't even here yet!'

But Hawkeye had hung up the phone before he heard that. His face turned from confident to shock in less than a second when Mihile repeated his words. 'Agent Francis will not fail! I believe in him!' he said, but it wasn't convincing with his tone shaking like that.

Francis appeared a moment later, huffing and panting as he carried a thin, rectangular metal object. I saw the image of what seemed like a square fruit on it. 'I-I…' he blurted out in his attempt of catching his breath upon approaching us at the bus stop.

'No time! Connect to the speakers now!' urged Hawkeye.

He forced a nod and flipped the metal thing open. He pressed a button on the keyboard and waited patiently for the screen to brighten up. As each second passes by without the desktop loading up, Hawkeye's face continued to grow in worry. Francis frantically moved his finger placed at a black pad below the keyboard, searching for something. I was no expert of this, so I kept a lookout for the targets. 'Is it done?' Hawkeye asked, worried after a moment.

'J-j-just give me a second!' Francis replied in panic.

Someone came out from the magic bus. 'How is preparation going?' The blue haired strategist asked and looked at the rest of us when Hawkeye seemed to ignore him. Mihile gave him a shrug. "Captain" Hawkeye and Francis still had their eyes stuck to the laptop screen, biting their lower lips in fear and impatience. I shook my head, avoiding his gaze. 'They should be arriving shortly. Hurry up,' he added.

'I'm trying!' the hooded boy almost shouted back.

 _Master, look at the park entrance!_ Mir said. I looked to the mentioned direction. There were two figures there, one seemed to be wearing a coat, and one was wearing a jersey. There's only two person I know in Seoul that wears that and were heading towards the Fountain Park. Great.


	21. Chapter 18 (FS Chapter 3)

Based from the previous story, most of you might have known that I'm busy. I couldn't get Chapter 18: Extra out on time, so I will try to do it by next week. Thank you for your support until now, and I hope you will continue to read this series. Cheers!

* * *

'Well, speak of the devil…' I replied. All of them looked towards the entrance, and Nineheart who was the only one who wasn't hidden quickly took a step into the hiding spot. We peered out towards the targets, who approached the fountain, looking awkward as they waited for the arrival of other teachers for the "meeting".

'Got it!' Francis whispered, excited. 'Now what, Captain Hawkeye?'

Chief Knight of Cygnus of Lightning gave him a nod. I could see that he was relieved. 'Now we wait for the perfect moment.'

And wait we did. Magnus was constantly looked towards the park entrance, standing by the fountain while Hilla was busy cloaking her face with white powder from a compact as she sat on the fountain ledge. I determined that it was white because her face seemed to be getting paler and paler by the moment. At 8.30am, Hilla finally closed her compact and looked towards Magnus. 'Aren't we supposed to meet at the Fountain Park for a teacher's outing?' she asked, frowning. 'How long are we going to wait for them? Don't they know that the sun rays are bad for the skin?'

Magnus shifted uneasily as he wiped sweat off his forehead. 'I think so,' he replied, shrugging. 'Maybe the others are running late.'

'Mr. Magnus, you are still in your training suit,' remarked Hilla.

Magnus's eyebrows twitched. 'Ms. Hilla, you're still in your white coat.'

In an instant they glared at each other. 'Look at the sparks fly…' Mihile muttered. However, instead of starting to throw insults, they turned away, facing the other directions, to everyone's surprise.

Hilla took a few deep breaths. 'Hmph, all right, let's not do this.'

Magnus crossed his arms without looking back at her. 'I agree.'

'The time is now,' Nineheart turned towards Francis. 'Let's begin.'

Hawkeye nodded. 'Agent Francis, play the sweet music!'

'All right!' Francis whispered confidently, then did a few more clicks. His hand stopped for a moment and his hands turned red. We stared at him as he slowly and mechanically shifted up his gaze to us. 'Ah… This isn't working… Emergency!' I could see Hawkeye and Nineheart tensed up. Mihile sighed.

'What's going on, Francis?' Hawkeye frowned.

'M-my palms are so sweaty, I'm worried that I might play the wrong track…' he replied sheepishly.

The rest of us sighed in relief that it wasn't anything major. 'Geez, can you stop sweating for a second?' Hawkeye scowled. 'We have no time… hurry!'

Francis turned towards me, his eyes pleading. 'Evan, can you play the music instead?' The others shifted their attention to me now. I scratched the back of my head, thinking.

Briefly after, I replied, 'Sure, I'll do it.' I placed my umbrella down to the ground and took the laptop from Francis's lap. You can see an extra liquid layer on the keyboard. Was he that nervous all the time? Then again, some of the sweat might be originated from him running all the way back home and returned here again.

'All right, do it now!' He then started to pressure me.

I looked at the screen. There seemed to be quite the number of songs I see on the screen, arranged in a small, detailed form. Some of them were songs I actually recognized… wait a minute, these are the background music names from Maple World! How did he ever get them?

'Hurry!' Hawkeye hissed.

I hovered over to the song titled "This", which I believed was the music I should be playing. I double clicked on it and let the magic happens.

The magic was horrible. "This" was the familiar soundtrack of the Maple Story login music, where most people were stuck to play when they remained at their house. It was a rather irritating music when you've heard it for such a long period of time. What's worse about the soundtrack was the fact that there was a man who sung along with the music, who repeatedly said, "Maple Story" according to the rhythm, and it wasn't pleasant at all. I turned towards Francis, whose face was pale as sheet.

Mihile blurted out, 'What's this music?' as he turned towards me. The rest did the same as I looked at the others, being innocent as I am to the matter. What have I done?

'Why did you play "This"?' Francis scowled.

'Well, I don't know what to play,' I snapped at him. 'There's a file called "This", and I thought it was the right one. How would I know?!'

'There's also another file named "Sweet Music", didn't you see that?'

I scrolled down a little. I did.

'Well, why did you have such a misleading file name?! And right when you pass it to me, too?'

Nineheart was completely silent, but his face was fuming. Hawkeye looked like the world had ended in front of his eyes. Mihile covered his eyes. 'W-we're doomed!' Francis fell off the seat and to the ground dramatically. I could merely sighed at the situation. It seemed pretty grim.

 _M-master, look!_

I peered out of the bus stop to look at the targets' reactions.

They looked strangely enthralled to the music. What's going on? Do they have extremely horrible taste in music? Actually, I'm not going to judge them on their taste of music, since I don't listen too much of them at the first place. Sometimes I mute the background music because it can get really repetitive and sickening.

'Oh… this sweet music,' Hilla muttered, her mood appeared to have significantly improved from before.

'Where is this coming from?' Magnus asked to no one in particular, his face somewhat happy. This is the first time I've genuinely seen him happy.

But really – what's going on?!

 _I don't know either, master… Look, they're moving closer together!_

Huh?

They looked at each other without hatred, and slowly inching closer against each other. I could see the flowers of various colors blooming around their faces. A red umbrella effect popped out in between them, and it opened itself, covering the action they would do from our eyes. Hearts emerged from the umbrella slowly ascended to Heavens.

Wait, a red umbrella effect? That isn't supposed to happen!

'Guys...? Can you explain what's going on now?' I turned around. It seemed that they had witnessed the effect altogether, and now were completely surprised of how this happened. I'm not in charge of witnessing Maple World effects shifting into Seoul. I wasn't asked to deal with this thing!

'Uh… Huh…?' Hawkeye muttered. It must be weird for him to see a red umbrella effect.

'H-how did it work?' Francis's jaw was wide open. Wait, he wasn't shocked about the effect?

'They must be hypnotized by the power of music,' Nineheart said composedly, his words were betrayed by his appearance who seemed to be happy that it _actually_ worked. Now hold on. Are they genuinely not surprised of this matter? Those effects are considered magical, and I am pretty sure that Prefect told me that things in Maple World such as that doesn't exist in Seoul.

I felt like I was left in the dark. I should ask Prefect for more information later. But right now… well, the plan had worked, at least. Hawkeye cheered silently, a wide grin spread on his face. Francis had gotten up the ground, beaming. Mihile looked somewhat pleased at the results, and continued to stare at the red umbrella effect even though he will never see through it. Nineheart had a hard time suppressing his smile, so his expression was funny.

And the mood was quickly ruined by a familiar voice. 'What are you two doing here?' the person asked monotonously. His voice carried a little anger. I looked at the park entrance and my eyes widened.

Was he who restored the power to the school and unlocked the infirmary? 'Biology teacher?' Magnus blurted out, surprised. As soon as that happened, the red umbrella effect was gone. Vanished into thin air.

'Hmm…' he stroked his long, grey beard. 'I wonder what the two of you are doing here alone.' He looked at them through the corner of his eyes. Not a good scenario. Why is he here at the first place?

'Why is he here?' Hawkeye whispered to Nineheart. The student president shrugged, his expression showed that he was equally surprised.

'No, we came here for a teachers' outing,' Magnus replied.

'What teachers' outing?' Arkarium scoffed. Then he paused, acting surprised and said, 'Wait, are the rumors about you two being romantically involved together is true?'

'Are you crazy?' Hilla spat. 'I'd never go out with a muscle head like him!'

'Hmph, that makes the two of us!' Magnus crossed his arms. 'I'd never go out with a witch slathered in thick make-up!'

The both of them returned to their original mood, and proceeded to leave the area with a foul taste in their mouth. Quite literally. Arkarium let out a sigh and leaned against a thin tree few steps away from the fountain.

'Argh!' Mihile growled. 'It was a done deal until that heckler arrived!'

'No, we can't give up now!' Hawkeye clicked his tongue. 'Agent Evan, take care of him. We'll follow Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus to solve this problem! I, Hawkeye, refuse to see this end like this! Let's go!'

The others were dragged by Hawkeye into the magical bus as I approached the pale looking old man. He slumped to the ground shortly after I reached out for my red umbrella. Oh no… is he going to have a grave falling from the Heavens? Should I cast Revive on him? I walked towards him as I thought of a solution to get him back on his feet.

 _Master, Prefect once said that in his world, when you die, there's no free tombstones falling from the sky, nor there is an "OK" button for you to revive._

Well, that's not good, isn't it? Will health potions save that old man? I don't want Helena to be after me again.

 _I don't know, master… Shall we try?_

'No… no…' he muttered. I thought he had read my thoughts, but he continued, 'This is unfair…'

I cocked my head. I heard that old men would suffer regressions, but I wasn't told how to deal with them…

 _Master, why not give him an Antidote? Would it snap him back into what he was?_

I don't know… Would Holy Water work? I'm worried that he's possessed…

'I can't be the only one single again…' he mumbled, returning me to reality. 'No… I've tried so much to keep them apart… informing Stan about the vandalism… ripping the pictures… unlocking the infirmary…'

So he really was the one who unlocked the infirmary. I had my suspicion when he arrived to the park, for I believed that Nineheart would never fail his job to only send the message to the targets. I thought it was Magnus who had ripped off the pictures, or even Hilla, but I supposed their eyes weren't even focused to the walls when they locked gaze. A bright light appeared from his body and I instinctively looked to my right, avoiding direct contact to it. A brief moment later, I shifted my gaze back to find a Troublemaker standing by him. The Troublemaker had a yellow curly hair, with the fringe covering its right eye socket. Three top teeth jutted out of its skull-like mask. Two bones, both glowed in orange, levitated by the monster's face, probably due to the fact that he is a Biology teacher that it was bones. I realized a golden circle glowed beneath the seemingly degenerating tail of the spirit.

 _You know, master, I am not surprised with this reoccurrence anymore…_

Neither am I. Well, I guess we could have gotten our glory without being under Lily or Elwin's supervising for the case. I started casting buffs as the monster hovered around Arkarium, unaware of my presence. I read its description as I casted the important buffs. "Lonesome Troublemaker. Years of loneliness has called forth this Troublemaker." I didn't know Arkarium worries about such things – back in Maple World, all he worries is whether his master is returning or not. I guess in this modern world, there's nothing much to do but to procreate to ensure genes get passed on…

Well, enough of the Biology information. Mir had went ahead and used Illusion on the monster, taking it by surprise. Somehow the monster managed to locate Mir by pure chance while the Onyx Dragon flew around it, and damaged Mir as he pounded the ground with its right fist. My partner let out a yelp and was momentarily stunned. The Troublemaker made a strange gesture – it lowered its hands down, its palms facing upwards. I summoned a spiky, floating ice orb and aimed at the monster, barely making it to the monster when it raised its palms up. Mir managed to get away before its slowed motion successfully casted a skill – a wide ranged attack that summons bones of various sizes from the ground, attacking those who are in its radius. I was surprised when the bones summoned came out to the ground in a slanted position, stopping an inch away from my face. I didn't had time to react to it and merely stared back at the orange-glowing bone.

Mir sighed in relief when it didn't touched my face. The bones then returned to the ground.

'Mir, Killer Wings and Phantom Imprint. Let's finish this quickly before anyone arrives.' The dragon let out a growl as it casted both skills onto the monster. I teleported away from the monster's sight as it headed towards me during Mir's Killer Wing cast and used Thunderbolt when I was right behind the monster. It didn't staggered at all and turned around quickly, raising its right hand again. Mir distracted it with Illusion, but it didn't stop the blow from falling down. I parried its pound with my umbrella, but I still received damage from it. 1,059 HP gone. I glanced at its HP bar. It was down to half. The Onyx Dragon used Flame Wheel to put DoT on the monster, and I hissed at Mir when the attack almost went out of the park.

Lonesome Troublemaker was right beside me, and I realized it a moment too late. Its stance was the same as before – its specific AoE bone skill. Mir took flight while I jumped to avoid direct contact. The bones rose from the ground, spearing towards those who were in range. One of the bones were directly under my feet, and I accept my loss in grace by allowing my staff to take the blow before me. Its force made me fly, and Mir caught me before gravity does its trick. Even after that, 2,135 HP was gone. Mir dropped me to the ground and used Illusion when all of the bones sank to the ground. Right when it finishes its last blow and headed towards the sky for speed to do another, I casted Paralyze at the Troublemaker, followed by Poison Mist, all right before Mir swoops down. Its HP was down to a quarter now, and with two more Illusion hits from Mir, it stood frozen briefly on its ground before turning into stone, and into thin air. I breathed out through my mouth.

'I took way too much damage than I should,' I muttered alone as I pulled out a bottle of Power Elixer. 'Have my stay here affected my skill?'

Mir snorted while I drank it. 'No, you're just in a daze, master. We've been bossing.'

I clicked my tongue on the dragon's comeback. Well played.

I checked out Arkarium on the ground. His expression pained, as if he was having a nightmare while we fought. 'Ugh… no… you two are too young…' he muttered.

I said to Mir, 'And you wouldn't have wondered Arkarium had problems dealing with being single. The more you know, eh?'

'I agree, master. He doesn't seem to be the guy who cares about creating generations. He has lived for such a long time, even without being encased in ice, like the other Black Mage Commanders.'

'Maybe Arkarium of Maple World is a miserable old man, too.'

I left him under the tree and was ready to meet the others at school. After I have taken a step, I felt something in my left eye. Dust? Sand? I rubbed my eye in an attempt to remove the unknown matter that bypassed my natural wall of defense, but it seemed to be persistent. I blinked my eyes several times. All of a sudden, I saw the others in a distance, heading towards me. What just happened? They weren't there before. I narrowed my eyes at the figures. They were gone as soon as I blinked. And then they appeared again, with Hawkeye waving as I vaguely make the figures out with the tears coating my eyes. Then I blinked again. They were gone again. I removed the tears with my fingers, wondering if it was a mere illusion.

 _Well, well, well… What do we have here?_

I turned around instinctively. My body's warmth went away when I heard it. _That_ voice. 'Mir?' I called out softly.

 _Master, what is it?_ It was Mir's voice, not the one before.

I swallowed my saliva. That voice. I am not mistaken.

'Evan!' Someone tapped my shoulder. I jumped on the contact and swung my umbrella out of fear to only realize it was the members of the Shinsoo Matchmaking something Group. I stopped the umbrella right before the weapon reached the target's neck. Everyone was silent for a moment. 'H-hey, Evan? What are you doing?' Hawkeye glanced at the tip of the umbrella beside his neck. I looked around again for _him_ , but there wasn't the slightest sign of _his_ presence.

'Sorry.' I lowered the umbrella and forced a smile. 'Where are the targets? You know, Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus? Aren't you after them?'

'You look pale,' said Mihile, avoiding the topic. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, really,' I lied. 'So, how did it go?'

'We're sorry, Agent Evan' Hawkeye lowered his gaze, speaking dolefully. 'We've been exposed by the enemy. The operation has failed.' He then grunted softly, 'This is all my fault. I'm to be blamed.'

'I don't… disagree with Hawkeye,' Mihile crossed his arms. 'Ms. Hilla wouldn't have caught us if he didn't make such a fuss. He ruined our plan at the last minute.' The Chief Knight of Cygnus of Light shook his head as he sighed.

'Well, good job driving the wedge further between Ms. Hilla and Mr. Magnus,' Nineheart replied sarcastically towards Hawkeye, rubbing more salt into his wounds. Hawkeye wanted to protest, but he had nothing to defend himself but to pout. 'Now we may never be able to date each other.'

'Excuse me?' I raised an eyebrow at him.

'Not literally!' he scowled. 'I mean by among the students. None of you guys will be able to date anyone in school now.' Did he just admitted his real intentions on dating someone? That wasn't my loss, in any case.

'No!' Francis was in denial of his statement and looked up to the sky. 'I refuse to believe it. Orchid is waiting for me! Ah, love! You've caused nothing but pain! Ah…' I believe Francis's mental health has further deteriorated with this incident. I'm not sure what to feel about this. Hopefully nothing like before, please.

'I'm going back,' Mihile muttered as he took a step back from us. 'I shouldn't have agreed to partake in your shenanigans. Bye.' Then, he headed towards the school without a second glance at us.

'Agent Mihile, don't you dare to desert the operation area!' Hawkeye called up to him, but he didn't stop at all. 'Hey! Come with me!' Chief Knight of Cygnus of Lightning ran after him.

It was only the three of us. The other two seemed to have lost all means to stay here. 'Suddenly I want to see her. I'm going to find her,' said Francis as he pulled out an Orchid doll from his pants pockets, and then took off.

Nineheart and I exchanged glances briefly after the Doll Maniac's departure. 'Well, I'm leaving too. Take care of Mr. Arkarium.'

I nodded and he left me alone with an unconscious old man. Honestly, I was surprised at the fact he even noticed Arkarium behind me. He seemed pretty upset as well (probably due to the fact he couldn't date Cygnus despite being so close to her). Mir let out a sigh too. _Master, all that we have done… lost. Magnus and Hilla didn't get together even though it worked out well. We have failed. Aren't you sad?_

No. I don't care how it turns out.

 _Even after devoting so much into such a plan?_ Mir asked.

Well, maybe a little…

'No… You can't do this… you're not old enough to love…' Arkarium muttered, then the rest of the words came out as a mumble. I saw Elwin running towards me from the bus stop. He looked surprised with Arkarium by me, but as a precaution, he started barking. I shook my head and looked towards Arkarium, who was still mumbling. What should I do with him? Elwin cocked his head, confused.

Helena happened to walk past the park and I called out to her. 'What happened now?' her eyes narrowed, suspecting me.

'It seems that he had passed out from heat stroke, Miss Helena,' I replied. 'Mr. Arkarium suddenly fell to the ground.'

'And shouldn't you be in school right now?'

Uh-oh. 'I was late, miss. I took the shortcut and passed by here.'

'Even though your house was just across the street from school?' she asked again. 'Right beside the police station, too. You can't fool me, kid.'

'I had breakfast outside today, miss.'

Helena stared at me for a moment, and finally sighed. 'Alright. Thank you for informing the Seoul Police Department. I will take care of Mr. Arkarium now, so hurry on to your school. Don't skip class.'

I nodded and dismissed myself from her. Elwin followed closely behind me. After we had left the park with the magic bus and exited right in front of the school, Elwin asked, 'Are you going to school now, like a good kid? Technically, you're not too late for your second period.'

'Screw that. I have something to tell you – let's go home.' I paused briefly before adding, 'Call Lily, too.'

Prefect was surprised at our return. 'What happened?' he got up from the couch. The show was starring Orchid, with her dressed up in a black, white and purple frilly, knee-length dress, and purple, black rabbit bows replacing the white ones she usually has. It appears to be a cooking show. Both Elwin and I had our attention grabbed by the loud, colorful screen on a rectangular, thin box that we didn't reply him. 'Did you guys hear me?'

'I just feel like slacking, that's all,' I briefly replied him.

'To watch Orchid's show? So you're a fan of her now?' His eye sparkled for a moment. 'Yes! I have a buddy to talk to about Orchid now!'

He certainly would be good friends with Francis if he were to return to school. 'No, I'm not…' But my words fell into deaf ears. Elwin sat on the couch and watched the show as he bore with Prefect's lecture of the shows Orchid had starred in, her concerts where he was there, her songs, and the time where he shook hands with her once when he won a ticket from one of the albums he brought. I never knew one would be so happy just by shaking someone's hand. I guess being famous makes all the difference.

Lily returned. 'So, what happened?' she asked. 'The school is in a little chaos when they were told that three teachers were gone during morning classes. Only Hilla and Magnus came back just now. Arkarium is missing, and Cygnus called the authorities to know his whereabouts.'

'Oh,' I chuckled nervously. 'You don't need to worry about that. Listen, what happened earlier... the plan was foiled. The plan to pair Hilla and Magnus failed, and…' I stopped when Lily choked on her saliva.

' _Those_ two?!' she spat. 'Are you crazy?'

'Look, they're not the same in Maple World. Anyway, the plan failed as Arkarium interrupted it, and turns out that his loneliness spawned a Troublemaker.' Lily gasped as Elwin was taken aback from my words. Prefect, on the other hand, remained confused with our words. 'I took it down, so don't worry about it.'

'So that happened while Elwin and I were away…' Lily nodded. 'A natural born loner... just those words saddened me.' Now, I did not say such words. Looks like she had drawn her own conclusion instead. 'Anyway, good job. I'm proud of you of what you've done without our help.' Not that I have ever needed them around before this, too. 'Keep up the good work.' She handed me two silver needles. 'Here, some needles I've found. Maybe you can find some benefit with these.'

'Maybe not… I'm not interested into changing another uniform,' I replied. 'Thanks for them, anyway.' I kept them in my inventory.

'So, are you going to watch Orchid's Cooking Show now?' Prefect asked, somewhat excited. 'It just started – see? You didn't miss anything important!' He pointed at the television.

'Like I said, I wasn't interested...' I told him for the second time. 'Maybe, next time?'

'But both of your eyes were glued to the screen!'

I felt Lily's judging eyes on my back. 'Anything that is on that television of yours is interesting, regardless who is on the show. Haven't you seen Maple World's television shows?'

'There isn't any,' Prefect frowned. 'It's just an advertisement of…' Then he realized what I was saying. 'Oh.'

'I'll return to the school. Someone ought to keep an eye on it,' Lily left coldly and reached out to the door. It was then I recalled the horrid voice I've heard earlier (perhaps it was of a similar tone).

'Lily, wait a moment.'

She turned around, slightly irritated. 'What is it?' Somehow she wasn't pleased to know that I'm a fan of Orchid (even though I clearly am not). Maybe she had a higher expectation of me regarding things I find interesting. No, it's definitely not about _that_. This story doesn't have a " _harem_ ". I forbid so and I will write a letter to the author about this matter (outside the story, of course).

'Is it possible for me to ask someone from the Magician Association to overlook the matters in Seoul?' I asked.

Elwin turned around, looking at me. Lily frowned. 'Why?' Elwin asked before Lily could say anything. 'Are you saying that the both of us aren't good enough to take care of this matter ourselves?'

'I don't mean by that. I'm… a little concern of something.'

The Manipulative Master shifted her weight onto another leg. 'It's rare to hear you pause briefly before saying something,' she replied, crossing her arms. 'What's on your mind?'

'There might be an outside force that's manipulating the Dust beyond our surveillance – outside Shinsoo International School.'

Elwin scoffed. 'That again?' he chuckled. 'Surely you're overthinking it.'

'No,' I glanced at him. 'I've heard an eerie, uncomfortable voice earlier. The voice belongs to...' I trailed off. Wait a minute... Whose voice does it sound like? I shifted my gaze to the floor, my hand over my mouth. The voice was a man's, his voice deep, evil, and _scary_. Now that I have a deep thought about it, I don't think I've heard that person's voice before. So… why does that stranger's voice felt so familiar to me?

'Evan?' Lily asked.

I tried to remember. Where have I heard it before? Was it someone I partied with in Party Quests, or shared a map with, or went bossing with? I don't seem to be able to recall its presence. Why did it feel so familiar at that moment? But one thing is for sure about that voice – it sent fear down my spine. It is, no doubt, someone dangerous.

'There it is again – Evan's deep thought mode. He's not going to answer us, is he?' Elwin sighed.

'No, but look…' Prefect muttered.

But who? The Black Mage? No way… I've never heard him speak. Was it the White Mage, then? It's been a long time since I've visited Grand Athenaeum. I tried to recall his voice. But I couldn't. Was it Damien, then? No… I don't think I've ever hear him speak. I've only seen his appearance.

'Master?' Mir asked. Elwin jumped again.

'Argh, for Rhinne's sake, remove that potion effect beforehand!' he cried.

'Sorry…' the dragon said apologetically and removed it. It was then I realized Mir was directly in front of me, its eyes staring back at mine. I saw my reflection through its giant, beady golden eyes. I was _afraid_ and shaking. I chuckled nervously, taking a step back. When was the last time I was _that_ afraid?

'I'll talk to the Magician Association in the afternoon,' Lily interrupted my thoughts. 'You don't seem to be joking about that matter, and I had a thought about it before, too.'

'Not you too, Lily!' Elwin scowled. 'I thought we were going to deal with this among ourselves!'

'We cannot just focus on Shinsoo International School _only_ ,' she hissed. 'There is a possibility that other parts of Seoul are having the same problem, too. Of course, we cannot have too many involved in this, and maybe we could call upon one of our juniors to survey other parts of Seoul outside our vision. The dark energies flowing into Seoul is increasing as we speak.'

The Barrier Master clicked his tongue. 'I –' he began, but quickly trailed off, searching for words to convince her otherwise. A moment later, he took a deep breathe in and said, 'Why not ask Master Grendel instead?'

'Master Grendel is busy with the Maple Alliance as well. We cannot bother him too much,' Lily shot his idea down, then turned towards me. 'I'll see what I can do, Evan.' She gave me a look of pity before turning around, transforming into a white cat with black marks and left the house.

'Wow…' Prefect looked at her transformation in surprise. 'Can all of you do that, too?' he asked us.

'I supposed so…' I muttered. My mind returned to the mystery of the voice I've heard. How was I so convinced that I've heard it before? I recalled the events that happened earlier and remembered the question I wanted to ask Prefect. 'Say, are there visible effects in Seoul?'

'Like computer-made ones?' he frowned.

'No – I mean in reality. Like those in manga where flowers bloom out of nowhere. That kind of effect.'

He chuckled. 'Of course not. My world isn't an anime, nor a game. Of course we don't have real-time effects, unless it's an advertisement or a show to enhance something. See?' He pointed at the television. A chef's cooking was suddenly sparkling by the usage of diamond-like symbols and sound effects. 'This was pre-recorded, so some editing work have added into it to enhance the meaning,' Prefect explained. 'Why did you ask?'

I glanced at Mir. _I don't think we should tell him yet, master._

I think we should. 'It's a possibility that some of the Maple World's attributes have been infused in Seoul, so…'

The Otherworldly Student's eyes widened. 'Like effects?' I nodded. Will he be sad? But he was strangely happy. 'Cool! I wonder if it will stay. Oh, that's so, so, cool!'

'Shut up, Prefect!' Elwin barked at him. Prefect slapped his hands over his mouth for a moment, but upon removing them he was grinning ear to ear.

Mir and I exchanged glances at his reaction. _Well, all's well that ends well, isn't it, master?_

No, I don't think that's a good proverb to use here, Mir.

Prefect and Elwin remained on the couch as they watched the cooking show. _What should we do now, master? Should we go for a bossing session with TooSwift4Ya?_ Mir glanced at me. _And to clear your mind up, too, master._

I nodded at its suggestion and we entered through the wardrobe into Maple World. For an unknown reason, I felt relaxed knowing that I have returned, even though it was merely a few steps away from Prefect's house. Was it due to the uncomfortable voice I've heard? I don't know, and I don't think I should think about it now. Mir and I opened the door to Henesys. It was a bright morning. Others gathered nearby, some talked among players, some were selling various items.

TooSwift4Ya was coincidentally nearby. 'Hey, DragonGod,' he smiled as he approached me. He stood out among all with his Cash Shop items. 'It's rare for ya to be around. So, wanna go bossing? I'll bring along my cousin. She's over level 130 now.'

I laughed. 'That's rather slow.'

'Well, she's been slacking. I'm surprised she even got to that level,' he shrugged. 'But we'll go to RA without her. I'm not going to kill those monsters that wouldn't have a chance for a weapon.'

'Still hoping that I would be as OP as you are?' I raised my eyebrow.

He grinned. 'You have potential… and the mesos, you know?'

I don't like the way he said that. 'I don't have the mesos for those things, Swift.'

'Don't lie,' he smacked my back, beaming. 'Don't worry – it'll worth it at the end of the day! After all, who doesn't want to be stronger?'


	22. Chapter 18 extras (1)

Mir was unwell halfway through the bossing session, so we took an early leave from the battle and left Swift and his cousin alone. She wasn't very memorable, so I could not remember her name after a while. Both of us returned to Henesys when Mir stopped suddenly by the haystack, with me realizing it after a few steps. Its gaze casted downwards with a glum look. 'What is it?' I asked.

It landed on the ground in silence.

Through the spirit pact we have, I could tell that it was writhing in pain. We stood facing together among the crickets' song, a gap between us, under the night sky. Lifting my head up, I saw a waning moon on the sky.

And then I waited.

And waited.

Mir glanced at me from time to time, hesitating in opening up to me. Eventually, the Onyx Dragon mimicked a smile by opening its mouth. 'It's nothing.'

'I see.'

Both of us didn't move a step. I inspected my umbrella-staff for any scratches or holes on it.

'You didn't believe in that, right?' A brief pause later, it broke the silence, chuckling at its poor attempt of changing the topic.

I breathed out and shifted my gaze to its huge hazel eyes. 'I never knew that you thought I was dumb.'

'I would never…!' Mir trailed off, realizing my intentions, and nodded. 'Right. You got me there.' Then it looked up at the night sky. 'You see, master, for the past few days, I felt that Afrien was in pain, from the bond we have. But, never… not even once, he has ever called for me.' He paused, watching if I was following its words. 'And then, just now, during the battle, I felt a sharp stab in our bond. It felt as if our bond was –'

 _…severed._ Mir's thoughts finished its sentence.

And yet, to this tragedy, the only word that escaped my lips was 'Oh.'

Mir chuckled sadly. 'Right? Even though we have visited him once in a while – quite frequently, through the long journey to the ice island, even when he had never called for us - he had never told us anything important. Yet, when he died, I… I feel like a part of me _died_ along with him. Is it… due to the fact that the Mir – the real Mir, feels really sad as well? Is it because of the bond between us Onyx Dragons that relates to the original that made me feel so hurt, even if he had never told us anything important?'

'I supposed so. If he was in such pain, Afrien would have called someone, right?'

'And the "someone" wasn't us, master.' Large droplets of tears were falling off its eyes. Mir's sobbing voice carried anger. 'It wasn't us that he had called, master. It wasn't us…'

I nodded. 'Yes, it wasn't us.'

'It's unfair, master…' it sniffed. 'Aren't we all the same? Aren't we're all his children? So why…?'

I gave Mir a hug. I didn't need to give it an answer. We already knew it for a long, long time. _Because we are not the originals_.

And after a long time later, Mir stopped crying and had fallen asleep on me. It was heavy for me to carry, and so I was stuck by the haystack. Elwin called for us from behind, but I gestured him to be silent. We spent the night outside the house, and I suspected that Mir might not want to return to the sort-of normal life of ours so soon. It was hard to believe that the Onyx Dragon who have better hearing than I have would not have heard the call from Elwin.

Nonetheless, when morning arrives, I found myself on the bed, with Mir curled around it. It lifted its head when I sit up. 'Good morning, master.' As usual, the dragon greeted me, but this time there was an additional color on its eyes.

'Your eyes are very, very red,' I pointed out the obvious.

'It doesn't matter right? We should be ready for school.' The dragon got up from the ground. Despite the fact that we were both bonded in spirit, Mir still intended to be strong when I could tell that it is not. Sighing, I left the bed and touched the dragon on its head.

'You can stay here. I'll go alone.'

'But –' I cut it off by petting the dragon.

'Don't force yourself when you are unwell,' I smiled. 'Your master isn't as weak as to rely on you every time.'

Mir's eyes became wet again, but it managed to resist the urge to cry and gave me a nod. Then, I left the house, heading towards Shinsoo High School.

It's not as if I don't have a heart, nor that I do not truly care about Afrien. See, Afrien and I… Well, I cannot remember the one time we actually have a decent conversation, apart of the briefing of my duties as a Dragon Master. My visits to the King of the Onyx Dragon often ended up with me standing silently away as I watched Mir, the Mir that is soul-bound to me, have a conversation with him through telepathy.

I almost bumped into one of the students on my way to school. Both of us briefly stopped on our tracks at the end of the bridge, and he quickly walked past me when I didn't budge from my spot. I sighed in relief.

Afrien was not much of a talker either. He was old – much, much older than the both of us are, and we don't know much of the wise dragon's thoughts as he revealed too little of himself to us. A few times I felt my presence wasn't welcomed, and I'm unsure if it was the appearance of mine that mimics that of Evan's, or Freud himself, or a mixture of both. The last time I met the heroes, the originals apart of Evan, they would tell me that I look much like Freud himself, but I don't know how much of the truth behind those words. I have never met both Freud and Evan, and never will. On the other hand, I've heard news that Evan's appearance is constantly changing, like the other heroes, perhaps due to the experience he has gained throughout the years of travelling.

'Orchid is absent today too…' I heard Francis sighing in disappointment when I walked past him at the front gate. His hands were holding the Orchid doll he had made, his eyes reflected his longing to his beloved. I still don't, and probably never will, understand his unwavering love to Orchid who doesn't give back the same amount of love he poured in for her. Is this why they would say, "love is blind"?

When I returned to the past, I had inherited Freud's Will, a passive skill from Afrien himself. That's the only time I have met Freud, but he was exhausted and had his head down, and with Afrien sheltering him with his body, I couldn't see his face very well. I had thought, and still do think, that Afrien was a wise dragon who possesses both qualities and strength as both a king and leader, and I respect him for what he is. However, we never had the chance to truly communicate as a fellow heir of Freud and the partner of Freud. Maybe it was due to the difference of our status. I am a false heir of Freud. The true heir was Evan himself. The Mir I have contracted with in soul is a false image of the true Mir, despite the similar appearance, speech pattern, and skill. Would the original Evan have inherited the True Will of Freud's? I do not know. Alas, until the very end – no, even before that, Afrien refused to let us, the doppelgangers, understand him in the same manner as the real Evan and Mir.

The bell rang, the sound echoed down the hallway. Mr. Stan entered the classroom with the same old steeled appearance with the same old attendance book, cleared his throat as usual as he stood between us and the blackboard, and started taking attendance of the class, as usual. But that day, I was unusual. I wasn't listening to him at all.

Therefore, I cannot be sad of Afrien's passing. The King of the Onyx Dragon acted very much like a stranger to my eyes. To some extend, I admire him, and Mir do, too. But we have a big void between us. Afrien was just a dragon I have met. Am I supposed to feel sad just because I am "Evan"? That I am the same as _the_ Evan, who possess the same title, "Dragon Master"? That I have, too, inherited the will from Freud in Past Leafre? I cannot even share the sadness of my partner despite it being the same as me, but more intimate with the King of the Onyx Dragon himself with the additional bond between them. I have not even the slightest clue of the conversations happening between them, nor I wish to pry, but I believe it wouldn't be any more different from the situation I face. Mir cried in frustration before me yesterday. It wasn't because of the now-severed bond they both share. It was the anger it felt when Afrien have only trusted the only Evan to aid him. With thousands of Evans possibly in Maple World, as Elwin had said a long time ago, he only picked one. The true Evan.

Was it due to our possible incompetence?

Was it because that we were doppelgangers?

Was it that we weren't the same as _the_ Evan?

To me, the answers to all of those questions is the cold, hard truth. _Yes_.

And to the end, I will never hear him say that one word. Afrien was gone for good. He had fulfilled his duty to watch over the rise of the new Dragon Master – whatever had him cornered, whatever that made him suffer, and what actions he had decided to make, he is completely relieved from that now.

I looked at the dragon mark etched at the back of my right palm as I reached out to the blue sky. The pact that Mir and I had made when we first met in the foggy forest, when Mir was still in its egg, and when I was a child of a farmer, living outside Henesys. I couldn't help but laugh. The mark of the Dragon Master on my right hand is nothing more than a symbol between the connection we share between a fake Evan and a fake Mir. It doesn't symbolize us as heroes that stood on the same ground as _the_ Evan, _the_ Mir, _the_ Phantom, _the_ Mercedes, _the_ Luminous, _the_ Aran, _the_ Freud, _the_ Afrien, and _the_ Eunwol.

Of course, all of this is to be expected. This world is but a game. It cannot be overrun with too many heroes and too little villain. So, as the fake Evan and the fake Mir, we could only do our best to be what we are, not as another Evan and Mir, but as ourselves - as doppelgangers. We will accomplish what the Evan and the Mir cannot do, and be what the Evan and the Mir cannot be. No matter what exclusive events the Heroes can see, we will see a future that they cannot.

And yet…

…why do I feel so sad?

I clenched my fists.

The door behind me flung open. I got up from the ground and turned around quickly. 'Oh? It's rare to see you here, Evan,' Hawkeye said, leading Eckhart and Mihile into the rooftop. 'Not dropping by the cafeteria?' Their hands were filled with their favorite food, presumably to consume here.

I smiled. 'I wasn't feeling hungry.'

Hawkeye gasped and dropped the packaged cream puff on the ground instantly, breaking the plastic box upon impact while he rushed towards me, catching me by surprise. 'What happened? Did you break up with someone?' Then, as if he was trying to comfort me, he did a fist pump (I think that was what he's doing, making a fist with his right hand at chest level before moving his arm backwards) and flung his other hand around my neck while saying, 'Don't worry, Evan! There are other flowers in a flower field. Don't be saddened just because one has just dumped you!' I don't understand that phrase.

'You should listen to your own advice,' Mihile sighed, approaching us. He had picked up the plastic container filled with cream puffs.

'We're here to listen,' Eckhart nodded at me.

I glanced at the three of them and let out a chuckle. 'You're all exaggerating your actions. Nothing happened, really.' Do I really have the face of someone being rejected?

Ignoring me, Hawkeye had a plan of his own. 'Alright! We'll now commence the "Cheering Evan Up Operation"! You're all in, right?' Hawkeye quickly got up from the ground and faced the others. 'I will be… well, naturally, be the leader of this mission. No complains!'

Eckhart clicked his tongue. He wasn't expected to be pulled into Hawkeye's plans. 'Again?' Mihile looked at Hawkeye. He took a quick look at me and sighed. 'Well, at the very least, this one seems reasonable…'

'We'll gather more troops! Ah, and you better come to the rooftop after school, okay?' Hawkeye told me off before dragging both the sullen Eckhart and sighing Mihile out of the rooftop. Hawkeye was like a hurricane, appeared when you least expect him to, and gone before you realized it. I sighed in relief in their behavior. At least, they haven't changed at all. Looks like we are dragged into this mess, right?

Silence.

I had forgotten that Mir wasn't around. I laughed at myself. 'So much for saying "your master isn't as weak as to rely on you every time" …'

I returned to the rooftop after school, as forcibly promised by Hawkeye and the text messages he had sent to repeatedly remind me of it. I hesitated to enter through the door. I don't know what to expect. What am I supposed to expect beyond that door? Knowing Hawkeye, it would be something ridiculous planned. No… do I even deserve what lies beyond that door? I am an infiltrator this world, and they are merely the parallel world figures of people I have known. If they have known, I would be…

 _Yes, and let the thought sink into you…_

I heard a chilly voice in my mind. It was the voice of ***** ****. My body tensed up without warning.

A Troublemaker emerged from the shadows to my left. 'I'm not supposed to be here… I don't deserve to be here. I am… a castaway…'

Is that the manifestation from the fear I have? I stared into the eye sockets of the dark, chained Troublemaker. Unlike the other ones, I felt fear running down my back. It felt familiar, yet unknown.

Is it… me?

Is that supposed to be me?

Lily's shout brought me back from staring into the abyss. 'Evan!' Her voice came from the stairs. 'A Troublemaker! It seems to have barely manifested itself, but we need to get rid of it before anyone sees it!'

 _Anyone_?

Right… _they_ should be here, beyond that door.

But I didn't budge. I didn't move. My feet remained frozen to the ground I stood.

'Evan!' The voice came from my left.

'I am a fake… a lie. I don't belong anywhere… not here, not there…nowhere...' said the voice before me. Its name was a blur. Lily was right. It appeared to be unstable, like it would disappear in a moment's notice. Black smokes came out of its body and disappeared shortly.

'Don't listen to it, Evan. It's trying to pull you into it!'

'I don't deserve… to exist. I am… nothing…'

'Ugh, you're an idiot!' Tiny footsteps quickly headed my way.

'I am…but a fake… Everything I do is useless…'

 _Yes,_ Evan _, you are a fake. You knew that. You knew it since you are born._

'Evan!' Lily clawed on my pants. 'Get it together! You are not a fake!'

A different voice spoke to my mind. _***** ****, you will not change my mind, nor will you change ******'s mind_.

I breathed. 'But I am, Lily. I am a fake Evan. That's the truth.' I looked at the Troublemaker. 'But I didn't expect that _he_ will target me here. You have been watching me all this while, right?'

The Troublemaker kept quiet. 'Who?' the grey kitten asked.

'Why, it's…' The words do not form. I don't know who I was saying. I don't recall. But the Troublemaker smiled. An evil smile. It bothered me. I've never seen a Troublemaker smile before. Neither have Lily, for her kitten face turned pale.

'You're remembering…' the Troublemaker spoke in a different tone than before. 'You are… remembering…' It laughed briefly and stopped abruptly. 'We will meet again, _Evan_.' It sounded as if it knew that I wasn't the Evan. Why would ***** **** knew that I am here?

'No, we will not.' I pointed my staff at the monster and casted Shining Ray. The bright light seemed to absorb the Troublemaker, and it groaned for a brief moment before smirking. I think it was directed to me, even though I cannot see where its irises were looking.

'We _will_ meet again.'

It faded into black, thin smoke after leaving those puzzling words. The door to my right flung open right after, the wind from the force grazed my arm by an inch away. 'Oh, so there you are!' said Hawkeye. 'I thought you had broken our promise. Why are you just standing there? Let's go!'

'Oh… right.' I tossed a glance at Lily. 'Sorry.' My word was directed to both the grey kitten and him. Lily nodded. My hesitation to move made Hawkeye grabbing my wrist, and without warning, pulling me into the other side of the door. Behind it was the others – Oz, Irena, Cygnus, Mihile, Eckhart, Francis, Nineheart, along with Hawkeye, their faces filled with smiles, all directed to me. The smiles were almost too blinding for me. A vague recollection of a memory I don't possess came to mind. This… feels like déjà vu, but with different characters and different surroundings.

'Commencing "Cheering Evan Up Operation"! Let's start the banquet now!' Hawkeye clapped twice, followed by Irena and Oz carrying out a chocolate cake. Mihile, Francis, Nineheart and Cygnus pulled party poppers at me as Eckhart poured out drinks into several plastic cups. The ringleader of this mess grinned from ear to ear, welcoming me to this ceremony. And I stood there, coated with swirly, thin colored papers, stunned, but not by the skills of monsters.

'We heard that you are down. Cheer up,' said Irena.

'Cake makes you better,' added Cygnus, smiling.

Oz cheered, her hands up to the sky. 'Hooray, cake!'

'Idiot, don't let go of the other side of the cake!' The Chief Knight of Cygnus of Wind scowled at her, barely saving it from a disaster with her fast reflex.

Nineheart sighed. 'This is against the rules…' he muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear. No one responded to him.

'Don't worry, Evan. You're now an official member of the Rejects Group,' said Francis. 'You need to be strong - Uh… I mean, you're strong enough, but...'

'You can always talk to us if you're troubled. You don't open up to us even though we're friends,' Eckhart handed me a cup of soda. 'Cheer up.'

'I hate to admit it, but he's right,' Mihile nodded, taking one of the cups from Eckhart. 'You don't need to shoulder everything.' Eckhart proceeded to give a cup to everyone else.

'And you can _always_ consult me when it comes to love. The Shinsoo International School Matchmakers isn't dead!' Hawkeye gave me a pat to the back, a little too hard that made me almost spilling the contents of the cup.

Oz laughed. 'What's with that name?'

'Must be one of Hawkeye's stupid plan,' Eckhart shook his head.

'It ain't stupid!' Hawkeye stuck his tongue out.

'Sounds interesting! Why didn't you inform me, Hawkeye?' Cygnus's eyes sparkled in excitement.

'Miss Cygnus, not you too…' Nineheart pinched his forehead, silently sighing.

'Anyway, what do you think of this party, Evan?' Irena asked, grinning. Their attention immediately shifted to me. I don't know what kind of expression I have, but it was enough to make the usually composed Chief Knight of Cygnus of Wind wavered in her expression. 'Evan? What's wrong?' The others looked at me, worried. I didn't understand.

A short pause later, Francis muttered, 'He's crying.'

I wiped my eyes with my sleeves. A thin line of watermark appeared on the sleeve at my second glance, and my vision instantly became clearer than before. 'Well…' I didn't know what to say. They waited patiently for my next word. I supposed, at this time, I should smile. So I did. 'Thanks, but... all of you don't need to organize such a big thing for me. I am fine, really.'

'You're not fine! You just cried!' Hawkeye scowled.

'Right, I did.' I didn't know why I did. 'You said it's a "banquet", but it's not even my birthday.'

'When is your birthday, then?' Oz cocked her head.

'That… I don't remember. I didn't really care of my birthday,' I said. I don't remember when I was created, but I could tell that time passed as I gained levels from my travels around the world. I remember that it was tough to level up through grinding, and there was Monster Carnival, then the Big Bang happened to decrease the experience required to gain a level. Then there came theme dungeons - Mushroom Kingdom, Kerning Square, Chryse, which were then replaced or removed as more theme dungeons arise. Later, they gathered the party quests into one area. More training area then popped out for higher levels, and that followed the increase of possible bosses, such as Hilla, Magnus, Arkarium, and now, Lotus.

Cygnus was surprised. 'You don't remember your birthday?' I nodded. With a smile she clasped her hands together and announced, 'Why don't you think of today as your birthday then? This whole banquet will make sense to you, wouldn't it?' It wouldn't, because it wasn't a banquet at the first place...

'Operation "Cheering Evan Up" have changed to "Celebrating Evan's Birthday"!' Hawkeye conveniently changed the name of the operation. Wait…

'Does that really matter?' I laughed.

Nineheart shrugged. 'All's well that ends well, I suppose. Please hurry up if you do want to celebrate it here. I need to lock the doors.'

'Don't be a party pooper, Nineheart!' Oz whined.

Then, they celebrated my birthday regardless of my opinion. Cake was split to everyone in a hurry as Nineheart wasn't happy with us staying in school for a long period of time. Was this how one from the other world celebrates birthdays, surrounded by friends followed by cake-cutting ceremony? In Maple World, birthdays are rare as we were always busy - busy selling, busy buying, busy bossing, busy hunting… I supposed I have them to thank for changing my mood. But there was something they cannot change. What was _that_ all about?

I met up with Lily and Elwin outside the school gate. 'You seemed happier, Evan,' Lily told me while we headed back. 'A banquet, was it?'

'It wasn't a banquet. It was more of a gathering.'

'Nonetheless, that was a weird Troublemaker earlier.'

Elwin turned towards Lily, shocked. 'There was?'

The grey kitten sighed heavily. 'I supposed you were too busy being petted by the girls at the entrance _again_ to notice that.'

'Ugh… sorry.' Elwin lowered his head in guilt.

'I'm more interested of what you meant by "him". You sounded as if you knew who was behind the Troublemaker.' Lily looked at me. 'You should tell us.'

'I don't,' I confessed. 'But at that time, I felt like I knew. Wasn't this occurrence is because of the Black Mage's energies that entered this world?' Would it be...?

Lily dismissed that thought quickly. 'It is impossible for Black Mage to enter this world. There is only one entrance.'

'It couldn't be anyone from this world. They have no powers,' Elwin added.

'How about Black Mage's powers made them have one?' I asked.

That night, the answers to my question appeared on television. 'Today, a truck was stopped by an unknown individual, causing the truck to float before falling, narrowly avoiding an accident. The little girl, who was almost a victim, said that there was "a handsome guy who stopped the car with his bare hands". Could this mark the existence of espers hidden in our society?'

'Could this mark the existence of espers hidden in our society?' Prefect turned to us, repeating the question.

'Wouldn't you have known your society better than us?' Elwin shot back.

Prefect paused briefly before leaving the seat. He returned with a thin black thing and flipped it open. 'What's that?' I asked.

'A laptop.'

'A... what?'

'A portable computer.'

Mir, Elwin and I were amazed at the speed of change of technology in the otherworld as we examined the exterior of the laptop while Prefect typed something swiftly on the keyboard. 'How can your world decrease everything into something thin and small?' I asked.

With a smug look, Prefect replied, 'Science.'

'You're not a part of that, so wipe that smile off your face,' said Elwin.

'But I just remembered this! Look!' He turned the screen to our direction. 'There's a rumor of an esper going around saving people! We don't know his name, so we called him "Kinesis" due to his ability being telekinesis. He's in Seoul, but no one have really seen him.'

'That's a rare power…' Elwin stared into the screen. 'But… what are you showing us? It's just words from various people who thinks that he is cool and wanting to meet him because he is supposedly strong.'

'Because he _is_ cool! Even the news is talking about him! Don't you want to meet him as well?'

'For a different purpose.' I looked back at the television, which now shows another piece of news. 'We need someone to watch over him...'

'Oh, oh! If you guys do meet him, can you ask him for a sign?' said Prefect. We ignored him.

'We surely need another member for this now…' Elwin murmured.

'Black Mage's powers are capable of influencing the otherworld and give them power. That would be disastrous for those who have manifested them. Without proper guidance, their abilities may burst out of the body and cause a problem to the otherworld.'

'So this is where you guys are…' Lily sighed from behind, a heavy one. I think it was due to the advertisement about Orchid on the television. We turned around and saw a short, black haired kid beside her. The young girl had tanned skin, a black bob cut with three white highlighted parts (somewhat reminded me of a huge, white flower that is conveniently placed on her head), and wearing a black and white mage overall (also very similar to the other world's school uniform… or was that the influence of the manga I have seen? I have no idea.) Her big blue eyes looked at the new world (it is just a wardrobe away) in awe before landing her eyes at the television and rushed to touch at the mysterious object. 'From now on, she will be helping us out.' She glanced at the laptop on the table. 'What's that?'

'A portable computer,' I replied.

The little girl and Lily curiously looked at the structure of the item. A brief moment later Lily snapped out of it and said, 'Well, why don't you introduce yourself?'

The little girl was surprised and stood very still after leaving her gaze from the laptop. She curtsied at us and spoke quickly in her high-pitched voice, 'Hello, my name is Nella Medionel Roonia, a member of the Magician Association. Please to meet you all.' My first impression of her is the fact that she was oddly polite for a child. No offense to any children, but I believe I have never tried to make a good impression. Was it due to the fact that I was a son of a farmer?

'Nella Medaroonia?' Prefect was confused. That would be a poor excuse for me to lack of formality though...

'It's Nella Medionel Roonia! Remember that!' she scowled.

'Oh, hey, Nella.' Elwin said monotonously before sighing while looking away. 'It's you, huh…' He didn't sound very enthusiastic of her presence.

'Don't be so quick to look down at me!' Nella crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks. At the end, she's still a kid, huh? 'I'm an adult now! I can take on responsibilities!'

'How old are you?' Prefect frowned at her.

'It's… a secret!'

'Pray tell,' I whispered to Elwin. 'How old is she, really?'

'She's just twelve. Nella doesn't like us treating her like a child, even though she really is.'

'What were you both whispering?' Nella shifted her glare to us.

'I was praising how elegant you are as a lady,' I replied, smiling. Nella's face turned red in surprised and looked down on the floor. She seemed to mutter something, but I couldn't hear it.

'How do you do that without missing a beat with lies?' Elwin whispered back.

'Thank Phantom for that…' I sighed silently.

'Nella, that's Evan, the Dragon Master we have asked for help. The one beside him is Prefect, the student of the otherworld.'

'I know that already, Lily. Why don't we get to the main point?' She looked at Elwin. 'I want to help, but what kind of help do you want?'

Lily looked at me, her eyes telling me to say something. I shrugged, and said, 'Well, Nella, it would be nice if you could track a person down and stay with them.'

'Who?' The tanned girl cocked her head.

'The person they called as "Kinesis".'

'Who's that?' Lily raised an eyebrow.

'As the name suggests, Kinesis has telekinesis powers. They said that no one have seen him, though…' Elwin switched off the television just as one of Orchid's show came on. Prefect gave him a glare behind his back. 'Just now, there was news of a girl being saved by a "handsome guy" who "stopped a truck with his bare hands".'

'He's an esper!' Prefect argued.

'I thought we have confirmed that there is no one in Seoul who have powers,' Lily frowned. 'What's with this "esper" thing?'

'Espers are people who possess supernatural powers!'

Nella looked at him. 'Like us?'

'No, their abilities are related to the brain… something like that. They don't use what you guys called "mana" because they don't have any of that! They can control abilities just with their minds, like telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, clairvoyance, and more!'

'I don't think we should take a chance,' I told them. 'Espers or not, if they were at any chance influenced by Black Mage's magic from our world, if their powers went out of control, it would be bad for Seoul.'

'Right.' Nella nodded. 'I'll do my best - no, I'll definitely track him down. Believe in me!'

For some reasons, I have a bad feeling about all this. Was it the words of the Troublemaker that affected me so? It mentioned something about me "remembering". About what? I also feel like my mind have been muddled with something else. Is it what it was telling me about?

I lied on the bed, staring at the ceiling in darkness.

'What's wrong, master?' Mir lifted its head off the ground. 'You're troubled.'

I sat up on the bed and asked, 'Mir, who am I?'

'Huh? You're DragonGod, an Evan.'

Sighing, I muttered, 'Right.' I shouldn't have asked such a silly question.

'What's going on?' Mir now looked worried. 'What happened when I was gone?'

I explained the half-manifested event of Troublemaker before the rooftop. 'And I heard a voice that said…' I trailed off. Something was gone.

'Said?'

...huh?

What did the voice say?

'Master?' Mir's face peered closer to mine.

My hands moved on its own. In that instant, I saw someone else's face through the corner of my eye - a spirit's face beside mine, moving my hands to Mir's face. And then, my mouth spoke, as if it was natural to do so on its own, 'Afrien.'

Even if it was just a glance, the face of the spirit is disturbingly similar to mine.

'M-master?' Mir was shocked. 'W-what?'

'What's wrong?' "I" spoke again, gently. 'Have you forgotten? I'm…'

I managed to gain a slight control of my right hand and jerked away from the grips of the spirit before it could finish the sentence. It was caught in surprise and moved back as I turned towards the spirit. Even without confirmation, I could tell that he was the former Dragon Master. I grabbed my staff near the bed and looked at him. 'I'm not Freud, and _you_ cannot make _me_ to be someone else.'

He looked surprise for an instant before smiling gently. Why is he smiling? 'So, you can see me, Evan.'

'I'm not Evan.'

'You _are_ one of the Evans in Maple World.'

I didn't say a thing. That is true. 'Master?' Mir called out from behind.

Freud's spirit flustered. 'Ah, it is not my intention to change you. I just didn't know you can see me. This makes it easier, then.'

'If you have any business to deal with Evan, you should find the real one instead.'

'You don't need to be so cold,' the spirit smiled sadly. 'There is a reason why I cannot go towards the real Evan. But let that reason slide for now…' I frowned at him. He chuckled. 'This world is now filled with _his_ power. You are right - _his_ magic is flowing from Maple World into this world. But that's not all. There is someone else who is directing these powers into the world. Someone who _opened_ the door.'

'You're saying that the portal isn't open solely due to Elwin's mishap?'

He nodded. 'But you must be careful, too. _His_ powers are also influencing you.' The former Dragon Master pointed at me. 'You are recalling _my_ memories.'

'I don't see why I would be influenced by _him_. Maple World has been filled with _his_ powers since I was born.'

'At the end, you are someone who have inherited my will from Afrien. You are related to me the moment you have accepted that skill.' Freud smiled. 'Black Mage does not like me, and you should know why from the pieces that are given to you.'

I frowned deeper. 'You are here just to tell me that?'

'Oh no.' He looked over me, to Mir. 'The child will see Afrien's memories, too.' The moment he mentioned Afrien, his face turned sad. 'I do not know why, but someone have altered our memories to the both of you. So, my descendant -'

'Not me.'

'You are, DragonGod. I hope that you will be careful of your journey ahead.'

'Why would you think that I will believe _your_ words?' I asked him. 'I don't even know you. I don't know how did you get this kind of information. Why are you even here before me, when the real Evan is fighting against some enemy I don't know in Maple World? Wouldn't he be a better choice in this selection?'

He answered them with a smile. 'Farewell, my descendant. _He_ has yet to reach _his_ full potential, but you can defeat _him_. The fight will be tough, but surely, you will find a way to do so.' Then he faded away towards the window, towards the dark blue sky with a fleeting smile.

What was that about?

'Master?' Mir nudged my back. 'What's going on?'

I turned around. 'Didn't you see him, Mir? The former Dragon Master, Freud, was here.'

The dragon shook its head. 'No, I don't see anyone. You were talking to no one all that time, master.'

That sentence alone made me confused. Was I mistaken? Was I seeing things? But that was weird… if what I saw was Freud, why would I ever knew that it was _him_ despite it being the first time of me meeting him? There is no way that I could have imagined his appearance, for that was a long time ago when I went into the past, not to mention that I have never seen his face. And I could never know what kind of voice he had.

'Anyway, I was surprised that you called me "Afrien". It felt like you were a different person altogether. What was that about? Were you dreaming of something else, like about Afrien?' It laughed. 'I know that I'm in his child, but to think of him as me is funny of you!'

The other thing that disturbed me was one of the things he had said. I turned towards the laughing Mir, who wasn't affected at the weird occurrence earlier.

 _The child will hear Afrien's memories, too._

He shouldn't have known that Mir existed - or the fact that it was Afrien's child.

'What is it, master?' Mir stopped laughing and asked.

'No… nothing. Good night, Mir.'

'Good night, master.'

It was even weirder, for the next day, Mir didn't seem to recall any of those events happened at night. Something is really wrong...


End file.
